That Was Her, This is Me
by Rabbit
Summary: incomplete. AU What happens when Miaka and Yui are taken out of The Four Gods and someone else in the wrong place, at the wrong time gets pulled in? Won't end up the typical tale. Trust me.
1.

AN: Thank to Kaze-chan and A-chan for putting up with all my questions and giving me all the help you gave me.  
  
Chapter 1:  
  
"Chiaki? Chiaki?"  
  
Chiaki's eyes drifted to the entrance of her small bedroom.  
  
Her mother opened the door a moment later. "Telephone," she announced and held the device out to her.  
  
The girl shook her head. "I can't."  
  
"But it's your grandfather," Rioko persisted.  
  
Again she shook her head, waving a piece of paper in the air towards her, sitting up on her bed. "I'm about to go to the library. I have to finish this report on Ancient China within the next few days. Please tell him I said 'hi', though. "  
  
Her mother sighed, stepping out of the room, and closing the door behind her. Chiaki's eyes flickered back to the stack paper set before her. With a sigh, she stored it between the pages of her textbook and, setting it aside, stood, pulled her coat on over her uniform, and left the house. It was a cold, dismal day in Tokyo, making her wish that her school uniform included some type of slacks. It then struck her that she could have changed before she left the house. With a shrug, she continued anyway.  
  
The slush lining the streets was a dirty gray like the sky, the buildings, and everything else in the city that icy evening. Chiaki buried her face into the collar of her jacket and quickened her pace- the library wasn't going to be open forever. After crossing a street here, rounding a corner there, she reached the steps of the supposedly majestic building, and took them up, two at a time. Two girls, junior-high age she guessed, ran from the building, almost crushing Chiaki on their descent and she caught a few words of their rapidly frantic conversation as they went. "…Priestess… gods…. you and me... and Tamahome was so… you still angry with me?" She shook her head, entering the building. "Kids," she sighed, with a shake of her head. Of course, she envied them inwardly. Friends must have been nice to have.  
  
The building was comfortably warm, and so she shed her jacket, draping it over her arm as she walked to the librarian's desk. Looking over the rim of his glasses, the librarian asked, "Can I help you?"  
  
"Yes… Where are your books on Ancient China?"  
  
"Ancient China? Down the hall, it's the first door on the right."  
  
Thanking him, she turned and headed towards the dimly lit hallway. She wandered down it quickly, but after reaching the door on the right, she hesitated before heading to the room the librarian directed her towards. Her eyes were drawn to the hall across from her, and she stared at it, as if mesmerized, for several minutes. Suddenly, blinking rapidly, she shook her head to clear it, realizing she must have looked ridiculous gawking at the hallway as if she had never seen one before.  
  
She reached for the doorknob of the room she intended to enter, when a sharp jolt bursting into her fingertips made her withdraw her hand hastily. Examining the knob, she determined that the shock was just from built-up static, and reached to open it again. She cried out in surprise when she was shocked again, more harshly this time. Rubbing her tingling fingers, she found her gaze drawn to the second hall once more. Something about that dark corridor made her shiver. Chiaki's eyes darted from the door to the hall and back again. She felt as if something were inviting her- pulling her, actually- to it. And that made her wary of approaching. She turned her back on the second hall and reached for the door again, but it seemed to shrink away from her outstretched hand. Her eyebrows knit together.  
  
"How strange," she murmured. It was as if someone- or something- wanted her to take that other path. She tried for the door again, taking a step towards it this time. But the same thing happened-the door shrank back. With an aggravated sigh, she turned to the hall and yelled, "Fine! Have your way!"  
  
A man leaving one of the rooms paused when she spoke, staring at her with an arched eyebrow. Chiaki blushed, heading towards the hallway. Her pace was quick and confident for the first handful of steps but she slowed with uncertainty halfway down, and by the time she reached the next room, she had stopped fully. There was a door at the end of the dark hall, barely lit by a solitary vending machine humming against the wall. Other than that, the hallway was basically empty. There weren't even additional doors, which surprised her. She didn't see anything that would interest her, leaving her to wonder why the pull for her to reach the place had been so intense.  
  
She was about to turn around and go back to her studies when she thought heard a faint warbling screech that reminded her of the sound a bird made, but not quite, and she was fairly unsure that it wasn't her imagination. Chewing her lip in uncertainty, she looked at the closed door- it beckoned her the same way the hall had- and then glanced back down the corridor. There wasn't that insistent pull that there had been to get her to travel down it anymore. The transfer made her uneasy.  
  
"Okay," she whispered, slightly anxious, staring at the door again. "What is going on? What do you want from me?" She didn't expect an answer, and didn't get one. After standing there for several uneventful minutes, she threw her hands in the air with a sigh of exasperation. "This is ridiculous… I'm standing here, talking to a door, wasting my time when I have a paper to write." She turned to leave. A red, shimmering burst of light shot passed her head with the birdlike screech that she had heard earlier. With a cry of surprise, she whirled, immediately falling into a defensive stance and ready to make the transition to offense, if need be, with her eyes darting back and forth in search of what shot at her. But there was nothing to be found.  
  
Chiaki looked at the door. Without even realizing it, she walked towards it. Tacked onto the wood was a sign, warning that the room was for staff only. Fighting the urge to look back, she opened the door. She expected a spectacular result, but as far as she could see, there was nothing but dusty books sitting on dusty shelves in a dark and dusty room. She frowned, stepping further into the room, and closed the door behind her. A flash of red caught her eye and when she turned, she saw shimmering feathers burst from the bookshelf, and dim as they fluttered to the ground. She drew back for a moment, staring in awe and slight horror at the spot of the strange phenomenon, when it occurred to her that maybe the feathers, however weird their appearance may have been, were pointing her in the direction of an explanation of why she was there. Approaching the bookshelf that the feathers piled in front of, she fell to her knees, and plucked a feather from the small mound and twirled it between her fingertips. It was ruby-colored, and extremely soft, a beautiful, but clearly unnatural item. She heard the cry again, and startled, she dropped the feather. Looking at the shelves, she set her coat aside and gently touched the area she suspected the unusual feathers had come from, tilting her head to the side to read the titles of the books.  
  
'The Universe of the Four Gods?' Curious, she pulled the book from the shelf. The written piece of work was old and worn, but oddly enough, not as dusty as the other books in the room. As if it had just been used. 'The Four Gods… isn't that in Chinese history?' she wondered. With a smile, she opened it. Maybe it was exactly the book she needed to finish her report. Gingerly, she turned to the first page, and began reading the faded Chinese print. Delight took hold as she realized that it was, in fact, a book on Chinese history-a myth, in fact. "… four beast-gods. Seiryuu, Genbu, Byakko, and Suzaku…" she murmured to herself. "Each god had a priestess and seven celestial warriors…" She looked up, thoughtful. "A warrior huh? A warrior of Suzaku…" 'That would be an adventure.'  
  
Suddenly, the book burst into a shimmering, vivid, rose-colored light. Chiaki cried out in alarm, shielding her face from the brightness. The cry quickly faded and became a scream as the soft light snaked around her like arms, engulfed her completely, and pulled her into the pages of the book. The next thing she knew, she was floating through a strange, sort of dream-like atmosphere. When she attempted movement, it was sluggish. 'This is a dream,' she tried to assure herself. 'This is a very strange dream.' And quite immediately, she found herself tumbling head over heels through night air, to end up being caught, rather painfully, in a tree. She stayed there only seconds before the branch she tangled in gave way beneath her weight and took her crashing to the ground. Chiaki groaned, rolling off of the branch as its twigs stabbed into her back, and fought to catch the breath that had been cleanly knocked out of her. After she was certain she was still alive, could breath once more, and had no readily noticeable broken bones, she lifted her head and examined her surroundings. It was dark out, and the entire forest, if that was, in fact, where she ended up, was bathed in pale silvery light. It took her a moment to realize that the clear, crisp light was moonlight. And it was warm out, a sort of balmy type of weather that was quite different from the icy winter of home.  
  
"Where am I?" she wondered aloud, pushing herself into a sitting position. She winced a little from the bruising she had come in contact with since falling into and from the tree. "And how did I get here?" She stood, and immediately collapsed again as a sprained ankle made itself known. She rubbed the throbbing limb, grimacing.  
  
A snapping twig sounded behind her, followed by crunching footsteps. Chiaki rose to her knees, balling up her fists in case she had to defend herself, and looked back. A blond young man stepped into view.  
  
"Priestess of Suzaku!" he hissed. "I should have known it was you!" 


	2. 

Chapter 2:  
  
Chiaki dropped her hands to her sides and promptly sat on her heels, a bit baffled by this young man's apparent accusation. "Priestess of… what are you talking about?"  
  
"Where's Yui-sama?" he yelled.  
  
"Who?" she inquired.  
  
"Bring her back, or you will suffer in great pain, Priestess!"  
  
"What? Hey I think-" She tried to stand and inform him that he was mistaken, but the blond stranger would have nothing for it. With a mad yell, he threw a round weapon towards her. As a reflex, she turned her back to him, which she knew was a mistake even before the weapon struck. She screamed in pain, dropping to her hands and knees as sharp razors viciously sliced through her back.  
  
"Suboshi!" another voice spoke up. This voice was low, and monotonic, but wreaked with power.  
  
Chiaki glanced back and saw another blond man, taller, and certainly more foreboding approach. He yanked the weapon, a ryuseisui; away from the boy he called Suboshi. "Nakago-sama…" the boy murmured.  
  
"What are you doing? I sent you to find Yui-sama." He dangled the ryuseisui from his fingertips. "You were playing with your little toy?"  
  
"It's the Priestess to Suzaku. I found her spying on us."  
  
The man, Nakago she assumed, turned and looked at her. "Ah, so the Priestess of Suzaku decides to grace us with her presence."  
  
"No, I'm not… I don't know what you're-"  
  
"Silence!" He motioned for his guards and they seized Chiaki. She felt sharp pain rip through her shoulders and spine, where Suboshi's weapon struck, and she yelped. "Put her in the cell, and be careful. She can be conniving."  
  
"But wait, I'm not-" she began to protest.  
  
Nakago waved his hand to dismiss the guards, further ignoring her, and walked away with the young man at his heels. "You do remember what Yui- sama requested concerning the Priestess of Suzaku?" she heard him ask Suboshi as they disappeared through the wooded area.  
  
Chiaki sighed in frustration. Looking amongst the guards, she knew that, no matter how much martial arts training she had undergone, she wouldn't be able to fight this many men. 'Why so many guards for one person? Do they really think I'm that dangerous?' she wondered. She had paused in her limping stride, lost in this thought, when one of the guards slapped her back to move her forward and she blacked out from the agony.  
  
Hours later, Chiaki awoke, and found herself chained wrists to ankles, sitting in the middle of a cold, stone floor. Pain from her wounds registered and she hissed, arching her back as she tried to get away from it. It was a violent shock when she fell back on the tile, slamming her injured back against the floor. "Couldn't they have done anything about this?" she hissed to herself through teeth clenched in agony. "Bandaged it or something?" Thinking of her injury quickly guided her thoughts to her predicament. She wasn't sure where she was, or what she was doing there. The phrase "Priestess of Suzaku" kept coming up. It seemed familiar, but she couldn't place where it came from. Then the idea struck her. "The book. It said something about a Suzaku…" But why were they calling her the Priestess of this… beast-god, was it?  
  
Rolling onto her side and struggling to sit up, she muttered angrily, "If I ever get a hold of that Sumo Chin, or whatever that moron's name is, he'll regret what he did."  
  
"Talking about me, Priestess?" She looked up and saw the so-called 'Sumo Chin' standing just inside her cell. "My name is Suboshi," he snarled.  
  
"I don't care if your name is Marzipan! And why the hell do you keep calling me Priestess?"  
  
"You are the Priestess! Yui-sama's enemy, and therefore my enemy as well."  
  
"You know, when I get out, I'm going to make you pay for this. You had no right to-"  
  
"It's not yours to speak of rights!" he snapped. "I would kill you had Yui-sama not instructed me otherwise."  
  
"You keep talking about this Yui-sama. Who is Yui-sama?"  
  
"You know who she is." She snorted at the absurdity of what he was saying. "She is the Priestess of Seiryuu. We were so close to summoning Seiryuu. And then you show up and she disappears. Where have the Suzaku Seishi taken her?"  
  
"Don't you think that if I knew what you were talking about, I might have said something?"  
  
He glared at her and his weapon whipped out, striking her arm and face. 'Is he capable of anything that doesn't require the use of his favorite toy?' she wondered bitterly, trying to force away the burning sting of the cuts he inflicted. "You will tell me where Yui-sama is!" His voice was thick with ballistic fury.  
  
Chiaki clutched her bleeding arm, breathing heavily and glaring at him unblinkingly. "Didn't your master take that away from you, circus boy?" He struck her with the ryuseisui once again, clearly angry. She bit the inside of her cheek so hard against the pain that it bled. The young man suddenly glanced out the door.  
  
Looking back at her, he spat, "I'll find out where she is, even if I have to kill you to do it." And then, to her relief, he left.  
  
Unwanted tears welled into her dark eyes as the sting of the new and slightly older wounds persisted strongly. She wanted to go home. 'What about my paper?' she suddenly wondered, deciding moments later that it was a bit ironic to be worrying about an assignment when someone was fully prepared to thrash her to pieces. With a sigh, she rested her head on her knees, wincing. She forced her thoughts away from her pain, and directed them to the situation at hand. The only logical explanation was that she was some how in the book, The Universe of the Four Gods, but it didn't sound very logical, as far as logic went. The snippets of a conversation she heard on the way to the library came to mind… '"Priestess…" one of them said... Did that have anything to do with this? Was one of those girls this Yui that Suboshi and everyone are talking about?' She shook her head. It was crazy enough that she was there. It was ridiculous to assume that someone else fell into the same events. Closing her eyes, she tried to get some sleep.  
  
Several days had passed before Chiaki had any other visitors. It was night, as far as she could tell, and she was starving. She had just fallen asleep when the click of a lock opening startled her awake. Suboshi crept in very quietly. "Haven't you tormented me enough?" she demanded bitterly, shifting to a sitting position. "Are you going to attack me with your razor toy of death again?"  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
Digging the grimy, blood-encrusted heels of her palms into her eyes, she squinted at him searchingly. "Where are they?"  
  
"Where are what?" He studied her, thoroughly confused.  
  
Pausing, she scrutinized him. He didn't have the cruel air about him that he usually had. "You…aren't Suboshi, are you?" she asked uncertainly.  
  
He shook his head. "Suboshi is my brother. We are twins-"  
  
"Do you have those ryuseisui too?"  
  
The young man shook his head. "I play the flute. I'm not a fighter like Suboshi."  
  
"What are you doing here then, if you're not trying to abuse answers from me?" She scratched beneath one of the heavy cuffs on her wrists and looked at him suspiciously.  
  
"I heard rumors a few days ago that they had the Priestess of Suzaku chained in the palace. I was concerned… the Priestess was my friend. So I came to Kutou to find out what happened. But, um… you ... you aren't her."  
  
"Finally, someone believes me." She blew a few loose strands of oily hair out of her eyes, absently thinking of how nice a shower would have been. "What's your name?"  
  
"I was once called Amiboshi... but you can just call me Kaika." He smiled, sitting down on the cold stone floor. "And yours?"  
  
"Chiaki… Why hasn't anyone been down here?"  
  
He shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not supposed to be down here either." When she made a noise of inquiry, he added softly, "Everyone thinks I'm dead."  
  
She stared at him. "What? You're dead?" She shook her head, muttering under her breath about the absurdity of what Kaika told her.  
  
"I'm not really dead… It's obvious, isn't it?" Suddenly, he turned, promising to return again, and then left. Chiaki sighed. She hadn't realized how much she liked having someone to talk to.  
  
* * *  
  
"Priestess." There was that tone again, one that commanded respect and invoked insane terror and severe hatred, all simultaneously.  
  
Chiaki looked up from her place on the floor and then dropped her head weakly to the ground again as Nakago entered. Her head was swimming. "If you're wanting to know where your Yui-sama is," she began flatly, her voice raspy from lack of use, "I don't know and I don't care. Why don't you just kill me and get it over with, instead of starving me to death."  
  
He smirked. "No, Priestess, that would be too easy. Once the Suzaku's Seishi come to rescue their imprisoned priestess, your use will be complete. I can kill you and those nuisances at once." Chiaki groaned. "You're pathetic," he commented.  
  
"You would be too, in this position, you bastard," she sneered.  
  
He chuckled insincerely. "Are you uncomfortable? I want you to know that I thrive off of your suffering."  
  
"Well I want you to know that those Suzaku guys don't give a rip about me because they don't know I exist!"  
  
"Clever." He then left.  
  
Chiaki groaned again, curling around her empty stomach. What was wrong with these people?  
  
"Chiaki?" She didn't respond. Couldn't these people let her die in peace? "Here, eat this."  
  
Opening her eye a slit, she saw one of the twins holding out some weird roll-shaped food. "Which one are you?" she mumbled, sitting up.  
  
"Kaika." He took her arm and pulled her into a sitting position, giving her the roll. "I have a way for you to escape and get to Konan."  
  
"Konan?" She tore ravenously into the roll. To her surprise, it was filled with something mildly sweet, like fruit, and it was very soothing to swallow.  
  
"Yes. That's where the Suzaku Seishi are. They are a more hospitable group. They will help you."  
  
"Will I meet this Priestess of Suzaku?" she asked, licking the filling off her fingers.  
  
Kaika shook his head. "No. She's no longer here. I suppose she and Yui-sama disappeared together."  
  
"Oh…" She asked if the young man had any other bits of food on him, and he shook his head. She nodded and prompted him to continue. "So… you're going to help me get out of here?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"How?"  
  
He held a slender metal pick in the air. "First, get you out of the chains." He took the lock and began to work on it. "There's a loose block in the wall that leads to an underground tunnel that will take you just outside of Kutou- that's where you are now," he added, when she gave him a puzzled look. The chains fell away and Chiaki rubbed her raw ankles and wrists, wincing. "Here's a map. It's not a very good one, but..." he shrugged. "Anyway, I marked the spot where you will be."  
  
"You've been busy," she commented in a low voice, rotating her stiff shoulders gratefully.  
  
He chuckled a little. "Yes, I have." Standing, he motioned for her to follow the suit.  
  
Chiaki climbed to a wobbly stand, and staggered a handful of steps towards Kaika before collapsing again. "I don't... I don't know if I can get there... is it far?"  
  
The young man shrugged. "A couple days walk, at most. If you're healthy and everything, of course. For you, after everything you've been through, maybe a week..." He crouched down near the wall and pushed on one of the bricks aside, revealing the passage he had previously mentioned. Turning back to her, he handed her a wineskin. "Some water." She took it and then he herded her towards the tunnel. "Go, before Nakago or my brother- well, any of them, really- returns. Good luck."  
  
She looked back at him in surprise and a tinge of regret. "Aren't you coming?"  
  
He grinned, shaking his head. "I've got a new family. They'd miss me if I was gone any longer than I have been." He gave her a brief wave and a push.  
  
Chiaki breathed in the smell of dirt and coughed a bit. There wasn't much room to move. She heard a scraping sound behind her, and guessed that Kaika was replacing the brick. That's when it struck her- she was escaping from this prison! That fact sparked a rush of energy, and she continued crawling. When her injured back scraped against the dirt ceiling, she barely bit back a scream. Dropping to her stomach, she decided to try slithering out instead. After what felt like hours of going, after she was about to drop, she caught the scent of humid, but wonderfully fresh air piercing the dusty, dry atmosphere around her.  
  
"Finally," she murmured wearily. A few minutes later, she found the exit hole, and, shoving the long grasses that grew around it aside, dragged herself out of the tunnel. Shuddering, she collapsed into the dewy grass and inhaled deeply. She could feel the ache in her arms and legs from the crawl mingling with the sting of infected cuts that lacerated her skin, and she groaned. "I hate this," she grunted, rolling onto her back. "I really, really hate this." She dismissed the sting and stared at the clear, starry sky for a moment. When she felt ready to move again, she rose to her knees. A burning ache registered, and she looked down. Her skirt and blouse were mere rags barely held up by the remaining intact scraps of fabric, and her knees were badly scraped up, just like the rest of her body. She winced and then went on to ignore it, pulling out Kaika's map. Expecting the typical road map, she was disappointed to find a very old-fashioned, crudely hand drawn one instead. She turned it around, examining it, puzzled, in the moonlight. How she was expected to make sense of it, she wasn't sure, but make sense of it she had to in order to get as far away from Kutou as she could. She took a sip of water from the skin and then climbed to an unstable stand. Her head was telling her it was time for her to get out of there, whether the rest of her body was ready to go or not. Away she limped from the hill, and from Kutou, hoping she'd never have to return. 


	3. 

Chapter 3:  
  
It was stormy the night Chiaki arrived in Konan. The rain was freezing, the lightening invoked shadows riddled with delusional nightmares. She stumbled, half-delirious and exhausted, through the border an hour after sunset. She'd been through her share of fights through that weeklong journey, with bandits and stranger creatures than she'd ever even read about and she was more than ready just to give up. Losing her footing in the slick mud, she went sprawling into the gooey slop. She lay there, with her face in the mud, trembling from exhaustion and murmuring unintelligible conversation to herself. She just wanted to lie there and waste away. A grand crash of thunder jolted her upright and with a groan, she dragged herself to her feet and blearily opened her map with one hand, wiping the mud from her face with the other. Under the pelting of the rain, the inks had run together, creating one monstrous blob. Or her eyes weren't focusing again, she wasn't sure. Folding the map up again and stuffing it into her shredded shirt, she continued to slowly limp through the foreign countryside.  
  
Well into the night, as the storm continued to rage, she made her way into a large city or small village perhaps, she couldn't tell. Her pace quickened at the thought of somewhere warm to sleep, and was very disappointed when she reached a gate. She pulled on the bars desperately, but they wouldn't move.  
  
A soldier stepped into view. "Halt!... Priestess! You've returned!"  
  
Chiaki looked at him and meant to shake her head and correct the man, but instead collapsed, unconscious, to the ground at his feet.  
  
* * *  
  
"She's not the Priestess?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Who is she then? She couldn't be Kutou's priestess, could she?"  
  
"It is not Yui... I'll see to her health. When she revives, perhaps she can tell us who she is. Maybe she knows where the Priestess of Suzaku disappeared to."  
  
* * *  
  
Faint sunlight filtered into Chiaki's closed eyes, the first sign to her partly conscious brain that she was awake. She opened her eyes slowly, wincing as the light hit them. Her gaze drifted around, discovering that she was in a room, tucked firmly into bed, and wearing a very comfortable silk robe. Beside her sat a man with stiff black hair, fast asleep with his chin on his chest and a small white kitten slumbering on his lap. 'Where am I?' she wondered. Looking back at the man, she screamed hoarsely and sat up; only to fall back against the pillows as her vision made the room reel. The man startled awake and tumbled off his chair with a startled yelp. The kitten darted off his lap and cowered beneath a nearby stand.  
  
Chiaki leaned over the edge of her bed, watching him until he rose to his feet, feeling a bit sorry for him. "Who are you? Where am I? Why are you in here? If you did anything to me, you'll-"  
  
The man held up his hands to silence her, crouching to scoop up the animal. Its tail was puffed like a brush. "One at a time, please. For your sake… and mine." Standing again, he deposited the kitten onto her bed.  
  
She sighed, a bit exasperated with this order, and finally nodded briefly in consent. "Who are you?"  
  
"Mitsukake. The cat is Tama-neko. And you are?"  
  
"Chiaki." She moved to sit up, but Mitsukake quickly advised against it. "Where am I?" she asked, sinking back against the pillow. Her hand absently found Tama-neko's furry head and she scratched the kitten's ears.  
  
The man handed her a cup and instructed her to drink from it. "This is Konan. You're in the palace of Emperor Hotohori."  
  
She choked on the mouthful of water she had just taken. "Palace? Emperor?"  
  
Mitsukake took the cup away from her and nodded. "Surprised, are you?"  
  
"To say the least, yes... Why are you in here? And... you don't think I'm this... Priestess of Suzaku, do you?"  
  
"No, I know you aren't the Priestess. I'm here because I'm a healer and I tended somewhat to your wounds. I was watching over you to be sure you really were well... You passed out before the palace gates, do you remember?"  
  
She squinted thoughtfully, looking off towards the corner. "A little," she replied after a long pause.  
  
"The guard brought you to me and I tended for you. You were quite a mess."  
  
"I'll bet..." Looking down at the robe she was enveloped in, she asked suspiciously, "Did you put me in this?" Before the healer could answer, she grabbed a parasol from the vase beside her bed and beat him across the head with it. "You pervert!"  
  
"No, no, no!" he cried, shielding his head from another blow. "I did no such thing. I had one of Hotohori-sama's aides change your clothes."  
  
"Oh..." She dropped the parasol to the floor, sheepish. "Um... sorry for, uh, hitting you..." She cleared her throat, embarrassed.  
  
Rubbing the crown of his head, he assured her that her reaction was all right. There was a brief knock on the door and a young woman entered. "Excuse me, sir, but the Emperor and the rest of the Suzaku Seishi wish for you and the Priestess to join them in his meeting room." She bobbed a quick bow and left the room.  
  
Chiaki gave Mitsukake a pained look. "I thought you knew I wasn't the Priestess."  
  
"I do. Others... Rumor spreads. Most haven't seen her often enough to know exactly how she looks. You arrive dressed the same, and people assume." He shrugged and then stood and motioned for her to follow the suit.  
  
She climbed out of bed and wobbled after him. "That woman said the rest of the Suzaku Seishi. What did she mean, and what exactly is the Suzaku Seishi?"  
  
He took hold of her arm to keep her steady and guided her down the hall, explaining, as he went, his role as one of the seven warriors of Suzaku, and the roles of the others. "You don't happen to know why our young Priestess disappeared, do you?" he asked, as they walked into the meeting room.  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Miaka!" someone yelled suddenly in ecstatic joy.  
  
Chiaki only had time to wonder if Miaka! was used in the same context as Eureka! before she found herself pinned against a wall and smothered in kisses. Balling up her fist, she gave the young man before her a swift sharp punch in the lower jaw, yelling, "Get off me, you Neanderthal!"  
  
"Tamahome, I don't think that's Miaka," a woman called, with an absolutely delighted expression on her face. "She certainly defended herself better against your so-called 'charm'."  
  
The name the woman used, Tamahome, rang familiar to her, but she didn't bother contemplating it. "I don't know who you think you are, or what you think I am, but-" she ranted, thrusting her finger in the man's chest.  
  
"Well, it's obvious you aren't Miaka. Who are you?" interrupted a man clothed in so many robes; Chiaki assumed he was feeling the early morning chill.  
  
"I... am Chiaki. And before you say anything else, I'm not a Priestess of anything; I don't know who or where Yui-sama is, and if you're going to kill me, do it now. Save any torture toys for someone who really needs it."  
  
The many-robed man approached and took her hand. "As Mitsukake may have told you, I am the Emperor of Konan. Please, call me Hotohori." He smiled at her, a truly pleasant sight, as the smile reached even his gentle brown eyes. Belatedly, she remembered to bow. "It sounds as though you've been through a lot. Sit down and tell us. Maybe we can figure out why you're here."  
  
She nodded, letting this charming emperor lead her to a seat. She swallowed hard when fourteen eyes turned on her; she'd never been around so many people who were interested in what she had to say before, but she found some comfort, seeing that one pair belonged to a young boy, no more than twelve- 'He is a warrior? Doesn't his mother worry?'- and that she wasn't the only female in the group. The woman who scolded Tamahome was busy picking on him with a fiery haired young man. Smiling a little, she haltingly began to tell her story.  
  
"So that's who those scars came from, no da? Suboshi?" another man asked.  
  
She was a bit surprised when he mentioned this for she thought he was blind by the way he squinted. She looked in one of the mirrors on a wall nearby and noticed that a tender pink laceration ripped neatly across her cheek. Nodding slowly, she touched it carefully and then glanced at him inquisitively. Maybe he wasn't blind after all.  
  
"Hmm..." Hotohori tapped his fingers together thoughtfully. "Miaka and Yui disappear and you show up in Kutou, only to be guided here." He looked at the supposed blind man beside him. "What do you think, Chichiri?"  
  
He shook his head. "I don't know, no da."  
  
Looking at each warrior of Suzaku carefully, she then asked, "Why does everyone keep calling me Priestess, if this Miaka girl is supposed to be it? Do she and I look similar or something?"  
  
The woman grinned. "I wouldn't think so, but you really should ask Tamahome that. He's the one who mistook you for his one true love."  
  
"It was an accident!" Tamahome yelled. "Her hair color is the same, and she's about the same height- it could've happened to anyone... Oh shut the hell up, Nuriko!" he snapped as the woman laughed at him.  
  
Suddenly, recognition of Tamahome's name clicked in the younger girl's head. "I've heard of you!" she exclaimed, waving her hand towards him. "Two girls... they were talking about you. They must be Miaka and Yui...?" Tamahome went starry-eyed at the mention of a possible sighting of the girl. Nuriko shook her head, rolling her eyes. "Who is Miaka, anyway?"  
  
"Miaka is the Priestess of Suzaku. A gluttonous pig of a priestess, but that's Miaka for you," Nuriko replied with an off-handed shrug.  
  
"And pretty stupid on the side," added the red haired man who had been relatively silent until that point, sending mischievously evil glances in Tamahome's direction as the other young man protested vehemently.  
  
Miaka, Tamahome, Nuriko, Chichiri; the names swam cluttered through her head. Chiaki looked up at Mitsukake, who stood by her shoulder. "Can you tell me who everyone is?" she asked quietly, "Because all of this is getting really confusing."  
  
The healer nodded. "He's Chiriko," he pointed to the young boy, who smiled brightly at the mention of his name, "I believe you now know Tamahome on a more intimate level," he teased gently. Tamahome grumbled under his breath. "And the Emperor, of course. Chichiri-" the man Chiaki wrongly assumed to be blind- "Tasuki-" the red haired man, "and he is-"  
  
"Nuriko, the man lover," Tasuki interrupted gleefully. Nuriko responded with a swift pound on the redhead's skull and he yelped in pain.  
  
Chiaki's eyebrows hiked up as she stared at Nuriko in disbelief. "You're...you're male?"  
  
"Well, do you have to act so surprised?" he demanded, planting slim hands on his hips.  
  
She held a hand to her head. "Oh my... I think I'm going to faint again." Mitsukake put a strong hand on her shoulder reassuringly.  
  
Chichiri slapped his palms onto the table with a whack that demanded silence. "Once Chiaki is ready to travel, we should visit Taitsukun, no da. She'll know what's going on, and how we can get Miaka back and Chiaki home, no da."  
  
"That old bag?" Tamahome groaned, dropping his head back. "She gives me nightmares!"  
  
"You wouldn't be here without that old bag, no da," Chichiri pointed out. In response, Tamahome sulked.  
  
Hotohori nodded in consent and looked at the girl. "Whenever you're ready. It's all up to you."  
  
"Wait, wait... what's going on? What's all up to me?"  
  
"We're going to see Taitsukun. She resides in Mt. Takioku. It's possible that she knows why you are here now, instead of Miaka. Whenever you feel your strength has returned, we'll leave."  
  
"Oh..." So much information, so many new things... A dull stab somewhere in her head began to throb painfully. She pressed a hand to her forehead, wincing.  
  
"I think it's time for Chiaki to rest," Mitsukake intervened, to her relief. She threw him a grateful glance.  
  
The emperor stood, nodding. "Yes, and if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask."  
  
She smiled briefly, standing with the help of the healer and, after bobbing her head respectfully to Hotohori, she and Mitsukake left the room. Chichiri watched them depart, with his face set with concern. There was something about that girl...  
  
* * *  
  
"Knock, knock!" Chiaki looked up as Nuriko entered her room with his usual cheerful smile on his face. She still couldn't get over how much he looked like a woman. "I figured you'd seen enough of Mitsukake for the day. And I brought you something to eat." He plopped a tray on the table beside her bed. "I know Miaka was a pig. So I brought a lot of food, just in case." He plucked a piece of fish off the tray and popped it in his mouth. "And if you don't eat it all, I'm starving." He dropped into the chair, folding his hands behind his head, as he waited for her to start eating. "Where are you from? Wherever Miaka came from? The both of you arrived dressed in similar clothes."  
  
Chiaki shrugged, taking a piece of fish and nibbling on it slowly. It was strange someone wished to talk to her out of their own will. "I don't know. I guess... If it was her I saw leaving the library, then yes, we came from the same... place?" The strong spices and oils in the fish made her empty stomach churn, and she scrambled out of bed and out the door to vomit up the rejected food.  
  
Nuriko arched an eyebrow and sniffed the food, wondering if it was spoiled. "Are you okay?" he called out, a bit concerned.  
  
She nodded quickly as she woozily returned to bed. She pulled the quilts up to her chin. "I just haven't eaten in a long while," she replied bitterly, feeling hatred for the men who had imprisoned her in Kutou boil over. 'Give me ten minutes alone with Sumo-chin with my bare hands, and he won't be conscious for a month.'  
  
"Oh, right. I forgot... Mitsukake suggested you eat something plain. Sorry." Sheepishly, he held out a bowl of rice. "That should do the trick.... So, you aren't going to eat the rest of this then?"  
  
She smiled and gestured for him to help himself. Studying Nuriko, she finally asked, to satiate her curiosity, "Why do you act like a woman?"  
  
He flitted his hand towards her casually as if to brush away the question. "Oh, you don't want to hear about that. It's a long story."  
  
"I think I can deal with a long story. I'm not exactly going anywhere for the next couple of days."  
  
"No, really. You wouldn't be interested," he repeated with a harder edge in his feminine voice, and Chiaki took the hint.  
  
"What's it like being a warrior of Suzaku?" she asked around a mouthful of deliciously bland rice.  
  
"Oh, it's a cinch. Kill a few monsters here, save the Priestess from our fine friend Nakago there..." he replied with a nonchalant tone. Popping another piece of the meal in his mouth, he added, waving his chopsticks around absently, "Certainly never dull. Everyone wanted a piece of Miaka. You should have been here the time Hotohori-sama killed Tamahome."  
  
Chiaki's head snapped up. Was everyone in this bizarre world a dead man walking? "Killed? But... but isn't he-"  
  
"Well, not killed, exactly," he interrupted, correcting himself. "But he stabbed the poor dolt through with his sword. Mitsukake fixed that up." He rapidly devoured another fish.  
  
"Why? I mean, why did the emperor stab Tamahome."  
  
"That's a long story." And then Nuriko launched into the crazy love triangle with Miaka, Emperor Hotohori, and Tamahome, the plot to kill the priestess using Tamahome, and the dramatic duel between the two men. "For all her whining and gluttonous ways, she really is a likable person." Leaning in closer to the girl, and lowering his voice, he added, "I think even Tasuki considered her a friend. And he hates women."  
  
"Oh..." She pursed her lips, wondering what sort of problems Miaka must have went through as the Priestess, with all the men who were supposed to be her protectors falling in love with her, and everyone else plotting her demise. If she was as brainless as everyone was claiming, she must have enjoyed every minute of it.  
  
"What's the matter?" Nuriko asked around a mouthful of spiced rice. The dark countenance on the girl's face was startling, and he was just beginning to enjoy the cheerful gossip.  
  
Chiaki shook her head. "Just thinking."  
  
"Well do you have to look so depressed when you're doing it? You're depressing me."  
  
She smiled a little and apologized. "I never though I had to control my facial expressions when I get lost in thought."  
  
"Well, just so you know, the only one who is allowed look that serious is Mitsukake. Or Chichiri, but he rarely takes advantage of that useless talent," he informed her, licking his fingers. "It's too depressing if the rest of us do it as well."  
  
She nodded slowly, thinking about what he said. "You're trying to pose as a girl, but you don't eat like a girl," she teased of his habits a moment later.  
  
Nuriko narrowed his eyes. "I'd throw you into that wall if you weren't already bedridden for the night," he threatened with an underlying tone of good humor.  
  
* * *  
  
"We leave for Mt. Takioku tomorrow morning," Hotohori informed the six other seishi of Suzaku. "At least, that's when Chiaki says she'll be ready." He arched a perfect eyebrow at Mitsukake to confirm that she truly would be well. The healer nodded.  
  
"I don't think I could make any trip with a whiney girl," Tasuki complained. "Can't we just... send her with an armed escort, or maybe Chichiri can warp her their with his mystic voodoo powers?" He waved his fingers about and crossed his eyes, flashing a fanged grin and making various noises that were supposed to resemble the voodoo powers of which he spoke.  
  
"Voodoo?" Chichiri exclaimed with slight vehemence in his voice.  
  
Hotohori held a hand to his face and sighed as the two men squabbled. Usually Chichiri kept calm in the face of anything, but lately...  
  
All seven men looked up and fell silent when the door opened. Chiaki peered in cautiously. "I'm not disturbing anything, am I?"  
  
The Emperor shook his head with a gentle smile. "No. Please, enter. How can we help you?"  
  
She stepped further into the room, clutching the robe tightly around her neck. It was really too long, draping over her slender hips and falling to the ground in a puddle of fabric. She was pretty, Hotohori was surprised to admit, 'But she isn't Miaka...'  
  
"I'd like to know what happened to my clothes," she asked shifting uncomfortably under the intent gazes of the seven young men.  
  
"I had my servants discard them. They weren't in much better condition than you were."  
  
"Oh..." She pursed her lips, quite for a moment. "Okay, then is there any way I can get some new clothes? I'm not going to wear this for any trip."  
  
Hotohori allowed himself a few chuckles. "Of course not, of course not... I'm sure there are some ladies clothes around here somewhere." He gave a pointed look in Nuriko's direction. Nuriko puffed a violet strand of hair out of his eyes indignantly.  
  
"Well, actually..." she interrupted. "Pardon me, Hotohori... um... sama... but... I-I don't think I'll be comfortable in anything that elaborate. Is there anything simpler?"  
  
"Nuriko has some men's clothing, when he feels like being manly," Tasuki announced, with a cackle, waggling his red eyebrows a bit.  
  
He growled and punched the other to the ground. "Why my clothes?"  
  
"You're build is most similar to hers," Tamahome pointed out, arching an eyebrow at his fallen comrade, who was groaning in agony. "And, since you started wearing more men's clothes, that will be just what she's looking for."  
  
With an exasperated sigh, he motioned for Chiaki to follow him out of the room. Hesitantly, she apologized for putting him out. With a chuckle, he shook his head. "No, it's them. They..." He drifted off and fell silent. Chiaki was inclined to ask him to continue, when he opened a door and motioned for her to step through. "My clothes are in that chest," he informed her, flopping across his bed with a sigh.  
  
A little bewildered with his behavior, the girl crouched next to the chest and opened it. She was more than baffled by the selection of satin robes and silk dresses she found, and hastily shoved past them. She finally found clothing to be expected of a man, however womanly he appeared, between the layers of frilly silk and other delicate fabrics, much to her relief. She pulled out simple silk tunic and a pair of pants, asking if they were fine to borrow. Nuriko lifted his head to examine her choice and then nodded, flopping his head back down.  
  
"Do you have somewhere I can change?"  
  
"Go right ahead."  
  
She stared at him with an arched brow. "Excuse me? Hey, I'm a girl and you... you're a... well..." she paused, realizing she could be talking her way into trouble. Of course he was a man... but he dressed as a woman... and how did one refer to a crossdresser? Nuriko just regarded her in amusement at her internal battle of uncertainty. "Well, I-I'm not comfortable changing in front of... people."  
  
He grinned roguishly and then pointed across the room. "There's a screen over there that you can change behind. Or you can go to your room."  
  
Chiaki gave him a suspicious look and, gathering the fabric of her robe in one hand and the clothes she was borrowing in the other, left the room. After a few minutes of wandering down one walkway and then another, she realized she was lost. She hadn't paid attention to where she was going as she followed Nuriko to his room, and now... Hearing a loud, whistled tune, she rounded the corner and saw the red-haired man walking towards her. He stopped upon seeing her, and folded his arms over his chest. And for the life of her, she couldn't remember his name.  
  
"Um... Chichiri?" she guessed wildly.  
  
"Do I look like that blue-haired monk to you? It's Tasuki!" he yelled.  
  
She winced. "Oh, sorry... Tasuki then."  
  
"Yeah, whadaya want?"  
  
"Well... I-I'm kind of... well, I'm lost and I-" she paused when Tasuki burst into laughter.  
  
"Lost?" he guffawed.  
  
She rolled her lips together, wondering where Nuriko was- this man could certainly use another swift punch-, before deciding she'd rather take matters into her own hands; literally. Seizing his collar in her fist, she pulled him down to her level. "Yes," she growled through clenched teeth. "Lost. Is there a problem with that?" He was too stunned to answer. "I didn't think so. Now, if you'll be so kind as to show me where my room is...?" She released him and he straightened.  
  
"You didn't have to get so crazy about it," he grumbled under his breath, his pride wounded, as he stalked down the hall. "Come on!" he shouted.  
  
With a sigh, Chiaki gathered the hem of the robe once more, and ran after him. 


	4. 

Chapter 4:  
  
"Rise and shine!" The cheerful phrase invaded Chiaki's comfortably sleeping mind followed by a body-jolting shake. Her eyes popped open suddenly and she screamed, punching up into the dark.  
  
"Ow!" exclaimed a slightly familiar voice as she connected with flesh.  
  
A candle flickered to life, and she saw, in the dim light, Nuriko, rubbing his chin where she had struck. "Don't do that!" she yelped. Then she looked down sheepishly. "Oh... and um... sorry for hitting you."  
  
He waved his hand, dismissing it. "I'd probably do the same thing... though it would result in serious injury." Grinning, he added, "Get dressed. It's time to go."  
  
"Go? Go where?" she asked. She glanced out the window and saw the sun had yet to rise. With a moan, she collapsed back onto her pillow. "It's still dark out."  
  
"To Mt. Takioku. It's a long trip. And we still need to eat!" He took her arm and literally pulled her out of bed. She yelped, crashing to the ground. Sheepishly, he grinned, hauling her to a stand. "Sorry. Sometimes I just don't know my own strength."  
  
"It... it's okay," she muttered, working her aching shoulder. Then she shooed him out of the room, fumbled into the clothes she had borrowed from him, and twisted her hair into a messy bun. Smothering a yawn, she stumbled out of her room and followed Nuriko to breakfast. She ate slowly, both perplexed and disgusted by the way the seven men- namely Tamahome, Tasuki, and Nuriko- ate. It was as if the outrageously massive breakfast was going to be their last meal, so they had to eat everything and anything they could get their hands on. It was like a car wreck- horrible to watch, yet she couldn't look away. Absorbed in watching them, she hadn't realized she had stopped eating until Hotohori captured her attention and asked if she was finished. Sparing one more glance at the three gorging men across the table, she nodded quickly and pushed her plate away.  
  
Immediately, the emperor stood. "Alright, let's be on our way."  
  
"But there still all this food to be eaten!" Tamahome protested around a mouthful.  
  
Hotohori sighed, running a slim hand over his face. "It is time to go," he decreed sternly in a tone that allowed for no argument. The order was met by a few moans. Finally pulling everyone away from the table, he led them to the stable.  
  
When they arrived, Chiaki stared petrified at the horses standing by ready and waiting to be ridden, pawing the ground and snorting energetically. "We're... we're riding those?"  
  
"Did you think we were all going to walk to Mt. Takioku?" Tasuki asked with an unbelieving arch in his brow, swinging onto one of the beasts. He had a teasing smirk on his face.  
  
She ignored his comment, wringing her hands nervously. Hotohori reined his horse around towards her. "Would you prefer to double with one of us, Chiaki? Anyone but Chiriko..." He nodded towards the younger boy, who was struggling to control the huge, feisty beast he was mounted upon. He smiled and then glanced at her inquisitively.  
  
Before she could answer, someone tapped her shoulder. Looking up, she saw a hand extended towards her. "You can ride with me, no da," the owner of the hand said brightly.  
  
"You're..." She paused, groping her mind for his name.  
  
"Chichiri, no da."  
  
Of course. The blue-haired monk, as Tasuki had so fondly referred to him as. "Chichiri," she repeated, and inwardly hoped she would remember that.  
  
"Well?"  
  
"Um... okay. Sure." She took his hand, slipped her foot into the saddle's stirrup, and he pulled her the horse.  
  
"Head out!" Hotohori shouted, leading the way out the gates.  
  
"Hold on no da," Chichiri instructed. Tapping the horse's sides, he yelled, "YAH!" and the animal began to move in a rocking trot.  
  
Chiaki shrieked in surprise, clutching handfuls of the horse's mane. Even with Chichiri's arm tightly around her, she was still afraid of falling off. As if having read her mind, he assured her that she'd be safe. "Besides, a fall isn't that painful, no da," he asserted brightly.  
  
Looking down at the hard-packed ground beneath them, she wasn't so sure. When the group stopped to eat and rest, Chiaki's worst fear came true the second Chichiri released her- she fell off the horse. Tasuki, already off of his mount, doubled over in hysterics, almost choking on his own laughter. The little boy in the group, the one she assumed had to be Chiriko, came over to her.  
  
"Are you all right?" he inquired, peering at her curiously. "Have you ever ridden a horse?" She shook her head ruefully. Wincing, he sat next to her. "I haven't ridden in awhile... ouch... Falling off is not a good experience for your first time."  
  
"No, it's not," she agreed. "Now I know why I never rode before. It's more painful than I had imagined."  
  
"Well, I've always been told- and I read it too- that you should get back on the horse when you fall off... Quite a useful metaphor, if you think about it in another light."  
  
"You're a smart little guy," she commented.  
  
"Thank you." He flushed at the praise and smiled again. "I read a lot."  
  
She returned the smile and then, glancing off, she chuckled at what she saw. "Is that your horse getting away?"  
  
Chiriko looked up and sighed as he noticed his horse wandering off. Climbing to his feet, he called back to her, "Welcome to Konan!" before turning and creeping up on the drifting beast.  
  
Chiaki's smile grew some before sounds of fading giggles reached her ears. Scowling bitterly, she glared at Tasuki, who had just finished his fit of laughter. Standing, she moved away from the group and sat beneath the shade of a nearby tree. Her traveling companions politely left her alone, immersing themselves in their own conversation. Bits of what they talked about floated her way, and from what she overheard, she got the distinct feeling that they couldn't wait to be rid of her. "Well, it's not like I wanted to come here in the first place," she muttered under her breath, hugging her knees to her chest. "All I did was open a book and-"  
  
"Hey Chiaki, come eat! Before Tamakins eats it all!" Nuriko called, motioning for the girl to join them. Tamahome yelled in protest between what appeared to be his third and fourth helpings.  
  
"No thanks, I'm not that hungry." The response silenced all conversation, and everyone turned to stare at her. Uncomfortable, she looked down, and then away. 'What's the matter with these people? Are food and this Miaka girl the only things that occupy their thoughts?'  
  
She was startled out of daydreaming when a strong hand gripped her shoulder. She glanced up and watched Nuriko sit down beside her, shooting her a concerned look.  
  
"Are you okay? You seem a little down," he observed, leaning back against the tree. He stared contently at the beautifully clear sky through a fringe of indigo hair.  
  
"I'm fine," she lied, plucking a blade of grass and twirling it between her fingers. "Just a little tired. Sore from the ride." Rubbing her hip, she added with a wince, "And from falling off of that dumb horse."  
  
Nuriko chuckled. "You're just about as clumsy as Miaka," he commented lightly, standing and slapping her shoulder gently. "But in a good way." And then he walked away on a mission to harass Tasuki.  
  
Resting her head on her knees, Chiaki growled in frustration and then went on to think random thoughts- anything but the situation at hand. She hadn't realized she had dozed off until Chichiri roused her and told her that they were preparing to head out once more. She stood stiffly, still half asleep, and stumbled after him to the horse. When she finally realized that she was expected to ride the horse again, she moved to protest, but before she knew it, Chichiri had hoisted her onto the animal's back and mounted quickly behind her. Moments later, the party was on their way again.  
  
When the horses stopped moving for the second time that day, Chiaki examined her surroundings curiously. "What's going on now?" she asked Chichiri.  
  
"We're stopping for the night, no da. Tomorrow we'll reach Mt. Takioku. Taitsukun is expecting us, no da." Instructing her to hold on to the horse, with the 'no da' that she was coming to expect from him, he slid off, and then helped her down before she could fall again.  
  
She watched the men set up camp, starting a blazing fire and rolling out bedding. Approaching Mitsukake, who was busy feeding Tama-neko, she thanked him for tending to her previous wounds.  
  
He smiled at the compliment and nodded. "You are quite welcome." Tama- neko mewed for the attention of his owner and then scampered away. The man sighed and hurried after the cat, scolding him for getting too close to the fire.  
  
Chiaki sat down, staring into the fire, feeling out of place with these people: a group of strange men who expected her to imitate every word, every action, every thought of their beloved Priestess. It was disturbing, to say the least. With an agitated sigh, she stretched out on her bedroll and went to sleep.  
  
* * *  
  
Mid-afternoon, Chiaki and the Suzaku Seven arrived at Mt. Takioku and within the hour, they found themselves mysteriously warped into the presence of a petite old woman. Everyone fell respectfully silent, except for Tamahome, who was yelling something about a scary old woman, and Tasuki, who echoed such sentiments.  
  
"Will you shut up?" the old woman snapped, glaring at the two young men. She turned to the rest of the party and floated over to Chiaki, grabbing her chin and forcing the girl to look at her. "How old are you?"  
  
She swallowed nervously when the woman's eyes met hers and stammered, "S-seven-seventeen..." She had never met anyone quite like this floating woman.  
  
"That's better... I don't know what Suzaku was thinking, choosing such a young girl like Miaka. So frivolous..."  
  
"That's what we'd like to know, Taitsukun, no da... Why is Chiaki here instead of Miaka?" Chichiri inquired, leaning on his slender staff.  
  
The old woman pursed her wrinkled lips thoughtfully. "I am uncertain as of now... My assumption would be that Suzaku felt Miaka was unfit to be his priestess-"  
  
"Miaka was perfect to be his priestess!" Tamahome interrupted with protest.  
  
"Will someone shut him up?"  
  
Tamahome fell bitterly silent as the rest followed Taitsukun into another room. "As I said, it is my assumption that Suzaku felt Miaka was unsuitable. But he is a god of many agendas." Chiaki tried to listen as the old woman spoke on about how she was trying to figure out the beast god's motives, seated on the smooth marble floor, but found it hard as she looked around the room curiously. It had such searchable possibilities- nooks and crannies, halls, closed doors...  
  
"... then Chiaki will be the new priestess of Suzaku."  
  
Her head whipped towards Taitsukun in complete horror. "What?!" 'I did not just hear what I think I heard!'  
  
The woman stared at her with a scrunched, displeased brow. "Have you not listened to what I've said?"  
  
'Dammit, I did...' She stumbled to a wobbling stand, shaking her head rapidly. "No, no... I can't be a priestess or whatever else I'm supposed to be! I can't help these people. I can't even help myself half the time! Why choose me? Who the hell does this Suzaku guy think he is, picking me to do- to do this? Wasn't it that Miaka girl's duties anyway? So, no thank you, I don't want to do it. No one wants me here anyway. They want Miaka back. So just send me home. I don't like this place. I don't want to be a priestess! I don't want a part of any of this!"  
  
Taitsukun focused a fixed glare on the girl. "You were brought into this world for a purpose yet unknown," she said sternly. "If that is what Suzaku wishes, then you will be her. You must fulfill this destiny. This world is depending on you. It is up to you, whether you are the priestess, or not, to help protect it."  
  
Chiaki's eyes watered and she shook her head again, holding her hands to her head. To be transported to this strange world was problem enough. But now she was expected to save it? Were they insane? 'I'm only seventeen!' "No, no I can't!" She turned and fled the chamber, fighting back confused sobs.  
  
"Chiaki!" Nuriko called, taking a step after her.  
  
"Let her go. She needs to absorb all of this," Mitsukake interfered, placing a restraining hand on his shoulder.  
  
"But what if she pulls a Miaka and falls into a lake or something and drowns?" he protested.  
  
Beside them, Hotohori sighed. "That's exactly the problem. We keep comparing her to Miaka, and that is bothering her. We have been so concerned with Miaka's disappearance, that we haven't given her existence proper consideration." He looked back at Taitsukun, concerned. "Is she really expected to save us?"  
  
The old woman squinted her eyes closed and furrowed her brow in deep concentration. "It is difficult to tell. She could be here to destroy us. I have been unable to read Suzaku's motives as of late. And of that, I am concerned..."  
  
"Is this going to be a threat to Konan?" Hotohori inquired, brow creased in worry.  
  
"I don't know!" Taitsukun snapped a bit more harshly than intended. "I wish I could tell you, but lately things have been slipping out of my control. I don't expect you to understand it, young emperor. I don't understand it myself." Turning to one of the blue haired young girls beside her, she ordered her to go retrieve Chiaki.  
  
"Nyan nyan nyan..." the girl cooed merrily, drawing several identical girls after her as she skipped off to find the missing girl.  
  
Chiaki sat with her knees drawn to her chest, staring miserably into a crystalline fountain waterfall. Flowers of exotic colors and fragrances that were wildly foreign to her surrounded her as far as the eye could see, but held none of her interest. Her thoughts had delved too deep into the complications she had just been delivered. "I'm seventeen years old..." she murmured, pressing her palms to her forehead and digging her fingers into her thick, loose brown hair. "I am struggling to get through high school, through life in general. And yet, they think I may be the key to saving the world? Or something equally ridiculous? How can they expect me to do that? They should just send me home. They have the wrong girl."  
  
Several hands clasped her arms and, with a chorus of "Nyan-nyans!" and "We'll fix Chiaki!" she was hauled to her feet by several unfamiliar, identical young girls and they dragged her eagerly back into Taitsukun's palace.  
  
"What the hell...?"  
  
"Come! Come!" squeaked one girl and suddenly they began pulling her harder, enthusiastically squawking to one another as she was shoved down one hall and pulled through another.  
  
"Where are you taking me- waugh!" She stumbled over her own feet with a cry of surprise and almost crashed down onto one of the little girls, but they dodged her with a gleeful dexterity that amazed Chiaki. Moments later they arrived in a room where the others were waiting, quietly conversion amongst themselves. All fell silent as the girl entered the room, save for the cheerful murmur amongst the little girls.  
  
Chiaki fidgeted nervously under the scrutiny, wondering just what they thought of her denial to help save their country. When she contemplated upon it, it didn't make her sound very grateful to them.  
  
"Are you all right, Chiaki?" Mitsukake was the first to inquire, giving her a concerned eye.  
  
She nodded carefully, still studying them. Particularly the emperor. Was he angry she wasn't willing to help his country? But he only observed her with solemn eyes that gave nothing away. Biting her lip, she looked down.  
  
Hotohori cleared his throat and stood, focusing his eyes on the brunette. "We request you return to the palace and stay with us until Taitsukun finds out just what Suzaku has in store for you."  
  
It was a fair request. They weren't demanding she save the country; the world; anyone in particular... just asking her to return with them until they understood her reasons for existing in this ancient world. She nodded, without looking up. 'Is it even right to refuse an emperor?'  
  
Taitsukun floated above them and approached the girl. Grabbing her chin and forcing her to look up, the old woman said, "If it comes down to us needing your assistance, you are allowed to make a choice. You can stay and help, or you may return to your world. Let your heart guide you in the right direction."  
  
Chiaki stared at the woman and swallowed hard. She got the feeling that it wasn't going to be much of a choice. "I... I understand," she managed to force out.  
  
"All right then..."  
  
* * *  
  
The return to Konan's capital was quieter than the trip up there, as each seishi contemplated the troubles that had been bestowed upon them with the arrival of Chiaki. The girl, on the other hand, thought of nothing, as she had been put into a deep sleep for the journey home, for all of her frantic jitters were certain to upset the horses, and placed in Mitsukake's care. They all had a feeling that this wait would be a long one.  
  
During the following week, Chiaki spent much of her time alone as the seven men were as wary of her as she was of them, though neither knew of it, exploring the palace grounds until she discovered an arena used to train soldiers. Days after that, when the arena was empty and promised to be so for hours, found her there, practicing her fighting skills. She was there early one morning, before dawn, even, for lack of sleep. A solitary wooden dummy wrapped in thick, coarse rope sat in the middle of the packed floor, standing strong despite years of abuse. Chiaki finished wrapping her hands and then tied her dark hair up in a scrap of fabric she had retrieved from her room. Cracking her knuckles, she circled the dummy like it was an offending opponent who knew his end was coming, like she was calculating her finishing move. The dummy didn't stand a chance. She found a particular protruding limb offensive, and proceeded to fight it. Each violent punch, every brutal kick became more and more so as her fighting became less athletic, and more driven by frustration, fear, and bitter uncertainty. With a feral yell, she executed a roundhouse kick that sent the dummy spinning in place.  
  
"What did the practice dummy ever do to you?" With a start, she whirled and saw Nuriko amble sleepily out of the surrounding shadows, stretching languidly with a loud yawn. "And why the hell are you up this early? Did Tasuki's snoring wake you up?" He cracked a grin and buried his fingers in his tangled violet hair.  
  
With a half smile, she shook her head. "I just couldn't sleep." She took a fierce punch at the dummy. "I had a lot on my mind... What about you?"  
  
"I sleep right over there." He pointed to a lodging across the field between the arena. "I could hear it all. Every kick, every punch you took, and every rattle that defenseless piece of wood made. Everything."  
  
"Did I wake you up?" she asked after a pause, glancing worriedly at him.  
  
He shrugged. "Yeah. But it isn't any worse than Tasuki's snoring! And he sleeps on the other side of the palace!"  
  
Chiaki giggled a bit.  
  
Nodding towards the dummy, Nuriko inquired, "You're a fighter?"  
  
She glanced at it and her shoulders rose in a half-hearted gesture. "Not much of one."  
  
"You come here every day and yet you tell me you aren't much of a fighter."  
  
"Well at home I was taking classes- Wait... how did you-?"  
  
He pointed across the field once again, with amusement in his eyes. "You didn't think I was blind, did you?"  
  
She flushed with embarrassment and turned back to the dummy. "Well, I like to practice," she said as a weak explanation.  
  
"Mind if I join you?" he asked, already wrapping up his own hands from the spare scraps of fabric in a box near the arena.  
  
She gave him a startled look and then smiled when he grinned in return, nodding. And so, Nuriko was the first to break the primary layer of unease between the seishi of Suzaku and the relatively unknown unfortunate who had been placed in their care. 


	5. 

Chapter 5:  
  
Chiaki sank to her knees with tears of hysterical laughter streaming down her cheeks as Nuriko made a comedy out of fighting the practice dummy. They had made it routine to go to the arena early, often before dawn, to talk and fight the dummy, or pretend to, as Nuriko was doing that morning. And at the moment, he was claiming the dummy was winning. It was then the dummy toppled over onto him, splintered and worn from the assault that the strong seishi dealt it. With a startled yelp, he gave the dummy what seemed to be a careful push that ended up sending it flying clear across the arena. The girl stared at it, abruptly sitting fully down, with her jaw slack. Nuriko hopped to his feet, slapping the dry dust from his clothes, and grinned when he caught her astonished expression. "I guess I'm stronger than I thought," he replied with a modest shrug, but his modesty was undermined by the impish smirk on his lips.  
  
Glancing at him suspiciously, she decided not to say anything, tucking her legs beneath her as she watched him trot over to retrieve the dummy. He was positively the friendliest, most humorous person she had ever met even though he was a little strange on occasion. And the only one of the seishi that spent time with her. Granted, she talked occasionally with Mitsukake and had once held an intelligent conversation with Chiriko, yet she still felt uncomfortable with the rest. Only Nuriko had truly gone out of his way to make her at ease.  
  
"Don't worry," he had told her. "They're just getting used to you, like you're getting used to us. They'll come around. It'll just take some time."  
  
"Did Miaka have these problems with everyone?" she had asked, with bitterness thick in her tone.  
  
"Well... no, not really. Mostly me... and Tasuki. But then, you aren't Miaka," he replied lightly.  
  
She had looked at him with a sense of amazement. Finally, an admission that she wasn't Miaka. That she was, in fact, an entirely different person. That she was Chiaki. She threw her arms around him in a tight hug, startling Nuriko at the time. For the first time since she was very young, Chiaki had made a friend.  
  
The corner of her lips curved up slightly at the memory. He didn't know just how important he was to her.  
  
"What's got you smiling all of a sudden Chiaki-chan?" he asked, snapping her out of her daydream as he plopped down beside her. "You're getting my clothes dirty." He pointed to the dirt smudges that covered the knees of the comfortable pants she wore.  
  
"Well, you aren't helping your wardrobe much either," she teased in return, pointing to his own dirty, wrinkled clothing.  
  
He shrugged helplessly, lying back on the packed floor, casually folding his hands behind his head as he gazed up at the dawning sky. "Anyway, it's nice to see a smile on that serious face of yours! I was getting worried about you. I thought for sure Mitsukake was influencing your behavior just a little too much." He cocked a grin.  
  
She sighed, shaking her head. "You get too concerned about things, Nuri-chan."  
  
"I'm only human" was his cheerful reply.  
  
She pursed her lips, arching a brow thoughtfully as she considered what he had said. Was he really human? Was she really human? After all, this was a book, wasn't it? Silently, she shook her head, disagreeing with herself. 'No, it can't be the book... I wouldn't be able to exist in it, if it was... right?' That thought led to others, more disturbing ones... Things she had never thought of. She shook her head. Better not to think... Thinking was bad. Better to just forget about it and enjoy the moment.  
  
"There you are!"  
  
The two looked across the arena to see Chiriko scrambling towards them. "The whole palace has been turned upside down looking for you!" Though it seemed he was talking about both Chiaki and Nuriko, he had his young gaze focused on the girl. She gulped. "The emperor wants us in a meeting. Something about going after the Genbu shinzaho anyway. Come on!" He motioned for them to follow him.  
  
"Shinzaho?" Chiaki inquired, scrambling to a stand.  
  
"Yes. It's an item of a past priestess that will help us summon Suzaku," explained the scholarly youngster. "See, Miaka used the scroll too soon, trying to summon Suzaku when a Seiryuu seishi posed as Chiriko- as me."  
  
She stared at him, baffled and he went on to explain in greater detail of what he spoke as they headed to the throne room. They entered the room and right away Chiriko separated from Chiaki to join the others across the room. Nervously, she reached for Nuriko's sleeve, but he gave her a reassuring glance and joined his fellow seishi. Clasping her hands before her, she watched them uncertainly. She didn't appear nervous, save for the way she bit her lip rapidly.  
  
"Chiaki," Hotohori began, catching the girl's flitting gaze, "as I'm sure Chiriko informed you, we are heading to Mt. Black to retrieve the Genbu shinzaho. I wish that you would accompany us, if merely to keep your time occupied while we wait for Taitsukun to contact us."  
  
"But... but I'm not the priestess-"  
  
"Are you saying you have to be a priestess to travel?" Nuriko asked with a teasing grin on his feminine face. "Is that how they do things in your world?"  
  
"Well, no, but I thought-"  
  
"Jus' shut your yappin' and let's go!" Tasuki replied with a groan. "I swear, she's worse than Miaka! Hell, she's even worse than you, Nuriko!"  
  
Nuriko's response was a quiet smile and a swift, hard punch that sent Tasuki crashing into the wall. Chiriko went to help pry the bandit out of the crushed hole his body had created as the rest of the seishi headed out to the stables. Chiaki threw the fiery-haired man a sympathetic glance, even though he had been teasing her, and hurried after the others.  
  
Upon arriving to the stables, she saw the horses tacked up and ready to go. The others, except Chiriko and Tasuki of course, were already mounted. "No, I cannot ride a-" She screeched in surprise as Nuriko galloped by and scooped her up in one fell swoop. "Nuri-chan!" she shrieked, clinging tightly to his neck as she was precariously balanced over his saddle.  
  
He laughed, drawing his steed to a halt. "Just thought it would be easier to get you up quickly, then if we pussyfooted around it... What... you weren't scared, were you?" he teased, regarding her ashen face and wide brown eyes that darted from the ground to him and back again. "Come on, let's get you properly situated."  
  
She made several fearful noises as Nuriko helped place her properly in front of him, and was rewarded by more laughs from Tasuki, perched on his own steed. The others chuckled in amusement as her face reddened with embarrassment. Nuriko's arms situated loosely, yet protectively, around her, taking up the reins, and then, upon Hotohori's command, the party headed out the gates towards Mt. Black.  
  
* * *  
  
With a grunt of discomfort of the hard ground beneath her, Chiaki rolled onto her stomach and stared at the crackling fire through the flaps of the makeshift tent she dozed in. She smiled a bit, remembering how Tasuki started it with a swat of his tessen and a shouted incantation of sorts. It had blazed to a frightening life that all but scared her to death, but now it was burning pleasantly, casting a warm orange glow over the camp. Mitsukake stood at the very edge of the dim light, keeping guard. She regarded him thoughtfully for a moment, wondering. He was so quiet, but she never thought to take the time to ask him what his story was. Of course, it then occurred to her that maybe he didn't want to share it, which was expected. She wasn't much of a 'story-sharer' herself, so why should she expect him to be? Sitting up on her pallet, shivering slightly in the crisp night air, she pulled her blanket up around her shoulders, crawled out of the tent, and headed towards the healer.  
  
He glanced at her, a bit startled by her presence. "Couldn't sleep, Chiaki?"  
  
Shoving a hand through her tangled hair, she shook her head. "Not really." She gazed out into the darkness beyond the firelight, eyes narrowed thoughtfully.  
  
"Something on your mind?" he finally prodded gently.  
  
"I don't..." She paused, chewing her lip absently. "Am I going to be stuck here forever?"  
  
"Stuck here?" His question was only to prompt her to continue.  
  
"Yeah... I mean..." She lifted her hands and then dropped them in frustration, unsure hot to express what she wanted to say, unsure she really wanted to talk about herself. "I...I don't ... I don't belong here, you know? Everyone- everyone knows I don't," she began slowly, shifting her uncomfortable gaze to the ground, the fire, the surrounding trees- anywhere but him. "And ... I know you all would rather have Miaka back because I hear the way you all talk so wistfully about her. I'm not deaf... And it ... it hurts." Her shoulders curled forward as she felt the pain of that rejection pierce through her. The words came quickly now, each tumbling out as if trying to beat the next in a race. "I mean, I didn't choose to come here. I just opened a book and -poof! I'm in this world. Not to mention my family- my mother... She's got to be so worried! I've been gone for over a week!" Mitsukake remained respectfully silent, observing her as she vented. "She must think I'm dead or that I ran away or someone kidnapped me..." Tears ran down her face and hastily she scrubbed them away. "And I guess I'll never see her again because I'm here, and I have to save this place, and I can't do it! I'm so damn scared." The last words were spit out as if vile, and she turned her head, shoulders shaking as she balled her fists, straining not to cry.  
  
Mitsukake regarded her sympathetically and put an arm around her, drawing her into a tight hug. It must have broken the last of her resolve, because she finally burst into tears, clinging to his shirt. Gently he patted her head, much like a father would do. "Yes, we do miss Miaka. We've all lost people that were significant in our lives, and her disappearance is cause of great concern. She was very important to us, in various ways. We all wonder if she is all right, where she is, if she'll come back... But it doesn't mean we resent you any. We don't, at all. Yes, I realize most of us have been a bit standoffish, but we're just as lost and confused as you are. We were given a priestess, she was taken back, and another girl of completely different nature appears. You are so very much unlike Miaka, and even the Priestess of Seiryuu, that it throws us. But we really enjoy having you around."  
  
She looked up and saw that he was honest, and she gave him a grateful half-smile. With that said, her tears subsided, and conversation became lighter, pleasantly filling for the both of them, until Chiaki finally dozed off once more.  
  
* * *  
  
"Rise and shine, Chiaki-chan!" Nuriko sang cheerfully, as he thoroughly enjoyed harassing her in the wee hours of the morning, flinging open the tent flaps and allowing the cold air and bright sunshine pierce the girl's sleep.  
  
She moaned, pulling her blanket over her head. "Go away, Nuriko."  
  
"What, no Nuri-chan?" Immediately, that rose concern in him, and he promptly sat down in front of her. He pulled the blanket from off her face, intending to poke fun at the girl until she rose and hit him, but she only squirmed in discomfort and buried a flushed face beneath her arm. Cocking his head to one side, he pulled her arm away and placed the back of his hand across her forehead. "Hey, you're burning up. Are you sick?"  
  
"It's just a cold. I'll be fine, Nuriko..." She peered at him through a slit of one bleary eye, and managed to force a smile.  
  
"A what?"  
  
Absently, she flitted a hand in his direction. "I don't feel that great... But I'll be fine. Like I said before, you worry too much, Nuri- chan."  
  
"Well with you for a possible priestess, who wouldn't be?" he teased good-naturedly, ruffling her messy hair.  
  
She narrowed her eyes with a 'humph', before pulling her blanket back over her head.  
  
"Mitsukake!" he yelled.  
  
Chiaki's hand shot out from beneath her blanket and smacked him across the head before he could react. "If you're going to yell, don't do it in here! I have a headache as it is!"  
  
With a sheepish grin, Nuriko apologized and then scrambled out of the tent in search of the healer. He found the man deep in conversation with the young emperor, and after a moment of silently fawning over his beloved emperor, he crouched next to them and without waiting for a convenient time to interrupt their talk, he announced Chiaki's condition to the both of them. "Sorry for interrupting, Hotohori-sama," he giggled afterwards.  
  
"It's quite all right," he replied, oblivious to Nuriko's attempted flirtations. "Now you were saying... Chiaki is ill?"  
  
Mitsukake frowned, studying the violet-haired seishi. "Does it seem very serious, Nuriko?"  
  
He shrugged. "She says she'll be fine, but her face is warm, so I don't know. I'm not the doctor, you know!" He grinned.  
  
"Mitsukake... check on her. We must get to Mt. Black as soon as possible and we can't afford any major setbacks," Hotohori ordered, rising to his feet.  
  
He nodded, stood, and headed towards the girl's tent. Nuriko occupied himself with staring girlishly at the emperor as he paced back and forth. Just moments later, Mitsukake returned. His face was that of utter disbelief. Pausing mid-stride, he glanced back at the tent, and then to his palm, as if in shock. Tamahome, who was leaving his own tent, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, collided with the healer.  
  
"Mitsukake, what the hell are you doing just standing in the way?!" he yelled grumpily.  
  
Nuriko broke his awestruck gaze to determine what Tamahome was yelling about. He caught sight of Mitsukake's face, and cocked his head to the side thoughtfully. "What's wrong?"  
  
"I... I... My... I can't use my powers to heal Chiaki..." he murmured, still utterly baffled.  
  
Hotohori stopped pacing, alarmed. "What do you mean?"  
  
He held up his palm, and to everyone's amazement and horror... it was blank. 


	6. 

Chapter 6:  
  
"Where's your character?" Tamahome demanded, grabbing Mitsukake's hand and searching the unmarked skin roughly.  
  
He shook his head uncertainly. "I don't know. I tried to use my powers to heal Chiaki, but nothing happened. My character never even flickered."  
  
"It didn't show up?" Hotohori studied him with concern. "But is that possible?"  
  
"I didn't think so, but... it's happened." He withdrew his hand from Tamahome's, rubbing his palm absently.  
  
"Well, at least the rest of us still have our powers," Nuriko commented lightly, stretching his arms high above his head with a lazy yawn.  
  
The others exchanged wary glances, and suddenly the clearing was filled with silence, except for Nuriko, who was watching and chuckling in amusement, as the others attempted to call upon their character's powers. He laughed until not one glowing mark appeared. Then he furrowed his brow with worry. "You don't think we actually lost our powers, do you? We would have felt something... right, Chichiri?" He glanced at the monk, whose mask was removed, and his scarred face was pursed with a concerned frown.  
  
"I don't know. Probably." He looked at all of them. "This is very serious."  
  
"No shit, Chichiri!" Tasuki snapped, folding his arms over his chest.  
  
After a few thoughtful moments, Chiriko spoke up. "Perhaps something in the area is affecting us...? I think we should leave as soon as possible."  
  
"But Chiaki's still sick," Nuriko pointed out.  
  
"It might not be safe for us here," the boy persisted.  
  
"I'm afraid I have to agree with Chiriko on this one, Nuriko," Hotohori began, holding his chin in his hand, studying the ground absently. "We cannot risk ourselves, particularly if this area has potential danger... though I've never heard of such thing before..." He shook his head, and continued. "And, we cannot allow the shinzaho to fall into the hands of Kutou. If they received a new priestess... or, a potential one," he corrected himself for Chiaki's benefit, though the girl still remained in her tent, "and if they summon Seiryuu first, Konan will be destroyed. We will all be destroyed."  
  
A moment of silence came and went as the seishi dwelled on their emperor's words. He was right. Seiryuu's summoning would be the end of them all. On the cue of a vicious swear from Tasuki, the campsite burst into a flurry of activity. They packed the horses with rapid speed and, after Mitsukake gathered the ill Chiaki in his arms, who amazingly offered little protest, they mounted their horses and left the chilly forest clearing as quickly as they could. Nuriko, and on occasion, Chichiri, rode next to the healer, trying to keep a close eye on the girl. The healer could only shake his head and smile.  
  
* * *  
  
"Nuriko, she will be fine," Mitsukake assured the seishi, as he peeked into the tent to check on Chiaki for the fifth time that evening at the party's new campsite.  
  
"No, I was just wondering if you could spare a lovely seishi such as myself an extra blanket. I'm freezing!"  
  
He laughed and shook his head. "What am I going to do with you? Go back to sleep."  
  
Nuriko stepped further into the tent and peered over the healer's shoulder. "What are you making?" He took the bowl from the man and sniffed it. With a strangled gasp he quickly handed it back to him, coughing. "Gods, what is that?!"  
  
"It's an herbal remedy. I'm going to see if it will help her get well," he explained, crinkling a few more various herbs into the thick liquid and crushing it with a pestle.  
  
Nuriko made a face. "What are you trying to do, scare the illness out of her with that stench?"  
  
The healer gave him a pointed look and explained the effects of the medicine. Finally Nuriko was ushered out of the tent, looking thoroughly unconvinced. Mitsukake turned with a quiet smile and then gently coaxed Chiaki awake. "Take this, it should bring down your fever."  
  
"Where am I?" she inquired hoarsely, taking the small dish.  
  
"We are just outside the Hokkan region," he explained, watching her closely.  
  
She paused to swallow a mouthful of the elixir and immediately began gagging. She flung the dish aside, trying to force down the bile that was rushing up her throat. "What was in that?!" she managed to gasp after a few precarious minutes.  
  
He glanced hopelessly at the puddle seeping into the grass. Her reaction was better than most of his patients... but not by much. At least she got a little of the concoction into her system. "That was supposed to help you get better, but now I think the grass will reap its benefits," he teased gently.  
  
"Sorry..." she murmured, the corner of her mouth curling downward slightly.  
  
Mitsukake shook his head, carefully pushing her back down. "You need rest. We'll be heading out early tomorrow morning."  
  
She nodded, burrowing deeper beneath the warm blanket. "Have you been in here the whole time?"  
  
"Yes. Mostly to keep Nuriko out. He's getting a little carried away, in my opinion."  
  
Chiaki smiled sleepily. "That's Nuri-chan for you.... Mitsukake?" He looked up and acknowledged her. She smiled again. "Thank you." Then she closed her eyes and fell asleep again.  
  
He looked on, smiling.  
  
"How is she?"  
  
Glancing up, he saw a head of violet hair poked through the tent flaps. "Nuriko..." he began, with a slight hint of warning in his tone.  
  
"Hey, I was just asking!" he protested, backing out respectfully.  
  
Again, Mitsukake smiled, continuing his watch over the girl.  
  
* * *  
  
Chiaki was happy. She felt better, she had slept in a real bed under a real roof at an inn in Touran, and they weren't traveling on horses as they explored the area! So, she sang gleefully to herself. "I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts, deedle dee dee dee, there they are a-standing in a row, bumpa bumpa bump. Big ones, small ones, some as big as your head-"  
  
"Ko...koka-whats?" Nuriko walked beside her, with his arms folded behind his head, taking in the sights. Tasuki trailed not to far behind them.  
  
"Coconuts... um... well... they're—they're big, round... things... They're kind of ... hairy? And they're hard—"  
  
"Like Tasuki's head!" Nuriko crowed with a huge smile, giving the flame-haired seishi a firm slap on the back that sent him crashing into a nearby fruit stand. Grabbing Chiaki's hand, he took off running, with the two of them giggling hysterically.  
  
"I'm gonna f---in' roast you, man-lover!" Tasuki yelled, running after them. "I still have my f---in' tessen workin', ya know!"  
  
Meanwhile, back at the inn, Hotohori and Chichiri were deeply involved in intense conversation.  
  
"It has been two weeks, and yet we've heard nothing from Taitsukun about Miaka, nor Chiaki's reason for being here." He threw a restless glance towards the blue-haired monk sitting at the room's small table, with his chin resting in the palm of his hand. Back and forth, the young emperor paced, his long, dark ponytail flowing behind him. "Do you think it's a possibility that we haven't heard from her because something happened to our powers?" he posed.  
  
He shook his head. "No, it wouldn't no da. She would send the Nyan Nyans, or something no da..." He scratched his head thoughtfully. "Which means... no da... that she has yet to find anything out."  
  
Hotohori paced across the boarded floor, trying to vent at least some of his frustrations into the woodwork. "Where are Nuriko, Chiaki, and Tasuki? And Mitsukake, for that matter... And why isn't Tamahome back yet? Don't they realize we have my country's lives at stake?"  
  
Chichiri listened quietly, letting part of his mind focus on the unsettling feeling forming in the pit of his stomach. Two hysterical shrieks knocked him out of concentration and caused Hotohori to pause mid- stride as the door burst open. Nuriko and Chiaki tumbled inside the room. Quickly vaulting herself over the fallen Nuriko, Chiaki collided with Hotohori, sending the two crashing, in a whirl of fabric and startled cries, to the floor. Tasuki followed moments later, brandishing his tessen like a sword and swearing up a storm.  
  
"Sorry Hotohori-sama," she managed to gasp, flushed with laughter and embarrassment. She crawled aside as the emperor rose to a stand, uncertain how to react. He found the event both humorous and a bit annoying at the same time.  
  
With a brief smile, he nodded, casting a weary glance at Tasuki, who was attempting to pummel Nuriko with his tessen. Tamahome burst into the room moments later, a symbol on his forehead glowing fiery red.  
  
"Tamahome- your character!" Nuriko began, staring at the mark, wide- eyed.  
  
"Forget that! They're here! Mitsukake and I saw them!" he yelled.  
  
"Who?" Hotohori demanded.  
  
"Nakago and the other Seiryuu Seishi!"  
  
* * *  
  
The moonlight was bright and crisp, causing the snow in the village to almost glow white. The seven men and Chiaki left the inn, bundled up warmly.  
  
"We must get to Mt. Black as quickly and silently as possible," Hotohori informed them as stable hands brought the horses around.  
  
Chiaki groaned pitifully, watching the massive beasts approach. "Can't we do this some other way? Walking? Driv—I mean... some other way? Why does it always have to be horses?!"  
  
Nuriko was the first to mount, and reined his horse towards her. "You're going to have to get used to it, Chiaki-chan. It's the way we get around."  
  
She stepped back warily, remembering the unpleasant rush she had experienced when he quite literally swept her off her feet when they had left for this place. "I do not have to get used to it because... because I'm not going!" Planting her hands defiantly on her hips, she added, "Anyway, you don't need me to go... right?"  
  
"We're not leaving you behind, Chiaki," the emperor said firmly.  
  
"Well, I can't... those beasts are freaking scary! I-" Her ranting was cut short when she was roughly scooped up and flung over someone's shoulder like a sack of grain. She let out a terrified shriek, staring at the hind side of a horse, and the ground below. "Nuriko!" she howled. A flash of red hair, and the sight that Nuriko was across the green, revealed that it was not he who held her captive. "Tasuki!" she screamed, beating his back with her fists. "Put me down! Put me down this instant!"  
  
"Are ya sure?"  
  
"Put me down NOW!"  
  
"All right," he consented with a singsong tone. Leaning to the side, he dropped the arm that held her over his shoulder and she began to slide.  
  
She shrieked, clinging to him tightly. "You let me fall and I'll kill you!" He made no move to help her keep her balance as he let his horse trot merrily around the inn. Grabbing a fistful of fiery hair, Chiaki pulled down. Hard.  
  
Tasuki yelped in surprise, lurching so violently that he almost threw her from the horse. "Dammit! What'd ya do that for?!"  
  
"Put me down, nicely."  
  
He clamped his arm around the backs of her knees and adamantly refused. "Not after that! Damn, that f---in' hurt!"  
  
"Put me down!"  
  
The others watched the scene, amused. Hotohori shook his head. "So much for leaving quietly..."  
  
Nuriko giggled and trotted after the two, who were already heading for the mountain, and one by one the others quickly followed.  
  
At the peak of Mt. Black, the night was cold, crisp, and ominously silent. The seven seishi each pitted a sense of unease. Their silence made Chiaki uncomfortable. 'Or maybe it's just Tasuki's frickin' sharp shoulder cramming into my gut,' she thought blandly, discomfort magnified from her place thrown over the redhead's shoulder. He had carried her that way through the entire trip. "Can you put me down now?" she gasped, squirming uncomfortably. "We're here, aren't we?"  
  
"Shh," Chiriko shushed, riding up next to them. "Something's amiss..."  
  
The girl cocked an eyebrow—'Since when did little kids use the word amiss?'—but she fell silent as told. Quietly, everyone dismounted and Tasuki set Chiaki to her feet before gathering with the other seishi.  
  
"Well, everything appears to be okay," Tamahome reasoned, glancing around the glowing, pristine whiteness.  
  
"All right, we have a shinzaho to obtain!" In a group, pulling Chiaki along with them, the men conquered the final ascent to the cave where the desired item was held. The closer they approached, the quieter they became. Chiriko had been right. Something didn't feel right.  
  
Chiaki hugged her arms to her chest, glancing around nervously. Standing on the balls of her feet, she whispered to Nuriko, "Is it always this quiet?"  
  
Silently, distractedly, he shrugged. His eyes, as well as those of all the others, were fixed on the cave a handful of yards above, the last climb in their trek. She let her eyes follow their gazes, to the rocky, black, uninviting maw of the cave, and swallowed hard.  
  
"What are we waiting for?" she murmured, trying not to let her fear leak through her tonality. She failed miserably.  
  
"Seiryuu's already has it," Mitsukake replied in a tight voice, staring at the gaping hole. "They must."  
  
She glanced at him. "How do you know?"  
  
"Because we do."  
  
Chiaki froze. The voice was a familiar one, though she couldn't readily place it, but caused shudders to course through her. Slowly, she turned with the others, and they saw a silhouette standing behind them, tall and muscular, snarling viscously, surrounded by five smaller shadows.  
  
"So Priestess. We meet again." 


	7. .

**Chapter 7:**

            Chiaki cringed, finally recognizing the voice. The Suzaku seishi gathered around her protectively. Nakago, Suboshi, and four other ominous companions seemed to melt out of their shadows. Nakago fixed a glare on the girl in the midst of their enemies.

            "You can't have it," Chiriko shouted. "You're lying!"

            He held up a small mirror with a smirk. "This _is_ what you were after, isn't it?"

            The seishi fell silent. Chiaki glanced around with an arched eyebrow. "What? It's just a mirror." '_If a _mirror_ gets them worked up, we're in trouble_.'

            "That's the shinzaho," Hotohori replied in a low voice, tone indicating that he was _not_ very pleased.

            "Oh..."

            He drew his sword, eyeing the Seiryuu seishi suspiciously. "We will remain calm," he told the ones behind him through somewhat gritted teeth. "Remember, we've fought with them before... They are powerful. We must keep our strength and-" He was interrupted by a feral yell as Tasuki launched himself at Nakago.

            "_Bastard!_" Tasuki screamed.

            Suddenly he was thrown back by a powerful blinding white ki blast. His body flipped over and he fell to the ground with a sickening thud. To Chiaki's amazement, the fiery tempered young man, though a bit woozy, climbed to his feet again. In a flash, he whipped out his tessen.

            "_REKKA-_"

            The two opposing forces closed in on one another, with Nuriko and Mitsukake placed together in front of her, acting almost as a shield.

            "_SHINEN!_" A blaze of fire spewed from the weapon, engulfing the advancing Seiryuu group. But they were not so easily defeated. Nakago was the first to emerge, seemingly unharmed. No burns, no scratches... he was _smirking!_

Chiaki shifted her weight nervously. '_How is that possible?_' Moments later, the area burst into violent fighting. It was amazing, as horrible as it was. The moment before had been like a calm before the storm. 

"What the...?" She glanced around, dodging the sword points, bursts of fire, ki, and lightening, bewildered. She was surrounded by awesome power. Each seishi was squared off with one enemy, except Nakago, who held the attention of Hotohori and Tamahome. Nuriko was entangled in a grueling hand-to-hand combat with a huge wolfish looking... beast. Her heart lodged in her throat. '_Nuri-chan_...' She was suddenly thrown to the ground as Tasuki crashed into her, swearing up a storm. He fought with a strange looking man wearing an equally strange hat. Her gaze finally rested on Chichiri who was fighting a..._child_? Mitsukake and Chirko were lost somewhere in the din. "What the hell is going-" She cut herself off with a scream as a pair of arms grabbed her roughly. Ramming her elbow into her captor's gut, she whirled to find it was Suboshi. Rage upon seeing his familiar countenance filled her. "What, you want a taste of your own medicine, huh? Huh? Bring it on, circus boy!" she yelled.

            "Chiaki, don't get involved!" she heard Hotohori shout.

            She paused, turning to him. He was so involved with Nakago, that she was amazed he had heard anything. Had the time to respond. Fatal electricity rumbled through the air. "What?" As soon as the word left her mouth, she knew it had been a mistake. Suboshi kicked the back of her knees, forcing her to collapse, and he swung about his killer yo-yos, as she had come to know the weapon. Quickly, she rolled onto her side, swung her leg around, and knocked his feet out from underneath him. Chiaki climbed to a stand, glaring at Suboshi as he floundered angrily through the snow, rising to his feet. "That all you can do?" she hissed.

            With a yell, he launched himself at her and they tumbled head over heels into the snow, punching, jabbing, kicking one another. She moved to shove him off of her when her hand slipped in something slick on his side. Suboshi jerked away, hunched over a wet red spot spreading over his tunic. Glancing at her hand, she found it covered with a sticky red substance... '_Blood? I didn't hit him _that_ hard..._' Realization hit her. Somehow or another, these seishi were hurt. Scrambling to her feet, she dove out of the way as he lunged for her again, growling like an animal and shouted out this revelation to her companions, "They're hurt! They're _HURT!_" assuming it would be of some assistance to them, before she slipped in the snow. Flailing backwards, she crashed into a woman who was concentrating on commanding lightening bolts. The woman turned on her with a snarl.

            Her face scrunched up. '_Damn, she's pissed..._' 

            "Chichiri, get Chiaki and Chiriko out of here!" Hotohori shouted over the din as she was preparing to fight once again- this time with the enraged woman who didn't look too pleased that her attempted electric massacre had been forced to an end.

            "What?! I can fight as damn well as any of you!" Of course, the emperor ignored this. He was too busy dodging a very powerful blast of ki that made the very air surrounding them shake. She yelped in surprise when Chichiri suddenly dashed by and threw her over his shoulder with a brief "sorry Chiaki, no da". Lightheadedness and nausea filled her as they seemingly sank into a tangible black oblivion. Just as she was about to pass out, throw up, or both- she wasn't sure- a burst of bright light exploded into the blackness and, after blinking away the spots before her eyes, she discovered that they had returned to the inn.

            With a sigh, she let herself go limp over the monk's shoulder before he set her to her feet again. Then, balling up her fist, she struck him in the chest. "Don't _ever_ do that again!" she screeched.

            Chichiri leapt back, unhurt, but positively startled. Chiriko stared at her in disbelief, having never really witnessed the girl behave in such a manner. "Daaaa...." Chichiri rotated his shoulder absently and inquired, "Do what, no da?"

            "Do... do... that- that _thing_!" she sputtered. "That _thing_ you did to get us here!"

            "Oh, I see the problem na no da... You've never warped anywhere, no da."

            "Whatever, whatever." She shook her head, pacing around the room. "What are we _doing_ here? I should be out there, helping! So should you!"

            Chichiri shrugged. "Hotohori-sama said for the two of you to be taken out of the fight, no da."

            "That's _another_ thing!" she ranted, thrusting her finger in his direction. "How weak and pathetic does he think I am? Granted, I don't have the best footing in snow, but I could have done some serious damage if he let me stay. Ooh, he's going to have a piece of my mind." Quickly, she walked over to him, thumping her hands on his shoulders. "Take me back there. You guys need all the help you can get, don't you? I mean, would you rather sit around and do nothing when you could do _something_? You _know_ I have a point, Chichiri."

            "Well, of course, no da. I don't want to be babysitting... Chiriko no da..." he amended quickly, noticing the glare she shot him at the comment, "but I have to do what I have to do, no da."

            She glared daggers at him, slumping down into a chair.

            "Daaaa...." He looked away from the angry girl to Chiriko, who sat quietly on the floor, watching them. "What were you and Mitsukake doing, no da?"

            "He was protecting me. Otherwise, he would have helped out." His face fell guiltily. "I can't do anything helpful. I mean, what good is being a seishi, if all I can do is be smart?"

            "Stop the self pity, okay? You're stuck. But there's all sorts of ways you can help if Chichiri would just _take. Us. BACK!_" Chiaki glared at Chichiri.

            "Hothori-sama specifically-" 

            She leapt to her feet again. "_Why_ do you even listen to Hotohori-sama anyway? I mean, _yeah_, he's emperor, but he's what.... five, six years _younger_ than you?"

            "He's the emperor, no-"

            "But there was a fight going on! Chichiri! Take me back there! I want to help."

            He quirked his mouth to the side.

            "You don't take me back and I... I will take out all this aggression on you physically! And Nuri-chan has been helping me fight, so you _know_ what it will do to you."

            "Daaaa...." Chichiri didn't know what was worse: facing an angry emperor or the wrath of an irate woman.

            "Those guys were hurt," she added. "Do you _know_ what an upper hand we _have_ on them? I want to kick Suboshi's butt! Don't deprive me of this!"

            He blinked. "Hurt, no da?" Chiaki had a point. With the Seiryuu seishi injured, they would have the advantage of at least being on the same level of power. But five of them wouldn't be enough to fight. He stood abruptly.

            A light of excitement glimmered in Chiaki's eyes. "We're going back?"

            Chichiri removed his mask and thumbed its cheek absently. "Yes. Chiriko, are you coming with us?"

            The young seishi glanced back and forth between girl and man. Slowly he stood and nodded. Motioning for Chiaki and Chiriko to approach, he set up the teleportation and pushed each one in before disappearing into it himself. Moments later, they burst from the black folds of the teleportation and onto a scene of chaos. The fighting was still going strong. The air stunk of ozone, burnt flesh, and the metallic tang of blood. Each seishi from both sides was stained with blood, sweat, and ash. Tamahome, Hotohori, Mitsukake, and Tasuki alternately attacked each of the Seiryuu seishi in pairs. Nuriko was the only one fighting the beast man. Chiaki was amazed at the power of his strength; the ... _thing_ he fought was much more muscular, taller, more _massive_.

            The beast man drew back a huge clawed paw and, almost as if in slow motion, plunged it into Nuriko's chest, lifting him high above his head with a victorious roar. Nuriko's blood poured down his arm, and speckled the snow.

            "_NURIKO!_" Chiaki screamed, tumbling forward.


	8. .

**Chapter 8:**

            Time seemed to stop. Chiaki slowly rose, shaking, staring at the limp, bloody form that was her friend. "No..."

            The other seishi stood around her, paralyzed, watching.

            "No..."

            Nakago's voice broke the ringing silence. "We have completed our first task."

            "No..."

            "Now we can leave."

            Chiaki whirled, seething. "You think you can just _leave_? Get _back_ here, _asshole! You can't get away with that_! Get back here and finish this like a _man!_"

            "I believe we can. And we did." He glanced back at her, only slightly amused. "I look forward to confronting you again, Priestess."

            "_Get back here!_" she screamed, tears of fury and agony streaming down her face. "_Get back here dammit!_" She slipped and fell to her knees, but valiantly clawed her way through the snow.

            Mitsukake grabbed her arm. "Let them go. We have to attend to Nuriko."

            She sank fully into the snow, curled up and sobbing. "They killed him! They _killed Nuriko!_"

            A hand rested on her shaking back. "He'll be fine. Mitsukake is seeing to that as we speak."

            Slowly, she looked up, eyes clouded with confusion. Hotohori gestured to the man, who was kneeling next to Nuriko with his palm extended over the seishi's bloody body. A warm glow seemed to envelope his body. Hotohori gently pushed her in that direction.

            "No, I can't," she balked. "I mean, if he's... If he's..." She couldn't say it. She didn't want to say it. She didn't want to see it.

            "Shaddup an' go already!" Tasuki grabbed her arm and dragged her over to Nuriko's body.

            She closed her eyes tightly and, after a moment's pause when Tasuki had finally stopped pulling her along, she peeked out through one eye. Nuriko lay peacefully on the ground, blood free. His arms rest by his sides. Slowly, she opened the other eye. "What the... ? Where- where's the... and the..." She sank to her knees and ran her hands over his immaculate jacket, astounded. No holes, no blood- was it that clean _beneath _the jacket as well? She pressed her hands firmly on his chest again. No blood seeped through. How was that possible?

            "Um... eh, Chiaki-chan, what _are_ you doing?"

            She stared at Nuriko, wide-eyed. "You're _alive_!" she shrieked, flinging her arms around his neck.

            He coughed and then laughed lightly, patting her head. "Uh, Chiaki-chan, I can only be squashed so much!" he gasped. "Breathe? Air?"

             Quickly, she released him. "Sorry..." She looked over him like a concerned mother over a hurt child. "You okay?"

            "I'm fine. I just feel lightheaded, that's all."

            She squinted at him. Something was different. Something...

            "Chiaki, yer starin' at 'im like Miaka does dumplin's. What'sa matter?" Tasuki asked, scratching the back of his head.

            Chiaki shook her head, rubbing the chill from her arms. "You think we can go hole up somewhere for the night? It's going to take a long time to get back to that inn..." She cast a glance over the weary seishi. "And we need to get some rest."

            "Well, I suspect that the cave is free to occupy now," Mitsukake commented, gesturing towards the cave in question.

            Chiaki looked into the dark maw uneasily. "What if... what if bears are in there or something? Those Seiryuu guys were pretty banged up before we got here."

            "Chiaki-chan, there are no bears up here," Nuriko replied, snickering.

            "Lions then! Or tigers!... Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!" she murmured to herself.

            He put a hand on her forehead. "Are you sick again?"

            Glaring, she shoved his hand away and began trudging up the mountainside towards the cave. The seishi followed one by one, similar to ducklings following their mother. It was a bit of a long walk up, giving Chiaki time to daydream about home and a nice, warm fire, far away from the snow shortly, before a shout from Tasuki rudely interrupted her. 

"What the f---! Nuriko!"

Chiaki glanced back to see what the commotion was about. Tasuki stalked over to Nuriko and pulled on a fistful of his hair. "Where th' f--- did it all go?!"

With almost an air of calmness, Nuriko delivered a punch that sent Tasuki soaring into the air. Ignoring this, Chiaki ran over to him. "I _knew_ something was different!" She grabbed his arm and turned him around. "Your hair is shorter!" she gasped. "Wow..."

            He reached back and grabbed for the braid that wasn't there. "My _hair!_" he shrilled girlishly. "What did that wolfman do to my _hair?_! When I find him, I'm going to..."

            "You look _fine_ Nuri-chan," she assured him, pulling his hands away from his hair and straightening the violet locks a bit. "In fact, I'd say you looked much nicer with short hair."

            "Ya mean more like a man," Tasuki muttered, returning to them. The comment earned him another punch from Nuriko.

            Chiaki rolled her eyes a bit as Nuriko went on to moan about his hair. Moments later, she resumed the lead of the group and they continued up the mountainside. When they reached the cave entrance, she stopped. Grabbing Tamahome's arm, she said, "Okay, you go first."

            "Me? Why me?!"

            "Because... if you don't die, we'll know it's safe."

            Tamahome glared at her. "Oh, like that's reassuring."

            She rolled her eyes. "Be a man and get in there." She gave him a push that sent him stumbling into the darkness. Folding her arms, she tapped her foot and waited for him to send word that all was safe and well.

            "You know, that wasn't very nice of you to do," Nuriko commented with a sincere nod.

            She glanced back at him and saw the impish gleam in his eyes and shook her head. She always knew men were weird. She had come to learn that cross-dressing men were weirder. "It was perfectly nice. He'll feel like... more like a man, after his bravery," she replied with an absent shrug. After that, she glanced at her wrist- only to find she didn't have a watch on- and then she glanced towards the men behind her. "Don't you think it's taking him a long time?" She swallowed hard and looked back at the cave. "You don't think... he...?"

            Hotohori shook his head. "Nonsense."

"But how do you know?"

"We'll go in and find out together," was his reply.

"What?!"

Hotohori approached the cave maw and cast a glance back at the rest of them. "Come along." And then he disappeared inside.

            "Isn't his majesty so brave?" Nuriko gushed.

            With a sigh, Chiaki muttered, "Oh shut up." Hiking up the loose, snow-soaked pants she wore, she trudged into the darkness after Hotohori. The darkness of the cave was thick, almost tangible. Chiaki shivered.

            "Damn, it's dark in here..." Tasuki muttered. A moment later, a flash of light lit up the cave.

            Looking back, Chiaki hissed, "Don't set this place on fire!" but he hadn't even removed his tessen. In fact, he didn't even respond to her, like he normally would. He was busy staring, slack-jawed, at a point past her head. Turning, she barely managed to suppress a shriek, seeing two glowing, very annoyed ghostly men standing before their group.

            "Who are you?" the spirit with an eye patch demanded.

            "When will you outsiders learn? Trespassing is forbidden to the likes of you!" announced the other, a younger, darker being. "We protect this shinzaho for a worthy miko, and for her only!" Drawing a bow and what appeared to be an arrow of ice, he aimed it directly at Chiaki's throat. "Be gone, or we will dispose of you like we did those seishi of Seiryuu."

            "Watch where you point that thing!" Chiaki yelped, staring at it in aghast.

            "Pardon me... do you mean to say that you are still in possession of the Genbu shinzaho?" Hotohori inquired, stepping up.

            The two spirits stared hard at the emperor.

            "Will you knock it off about the shinzaho! This guy's about to shoot me!"

            With a wave of his hand, Hotohori shushed the girl, and looked at the two men before them. "Then you are the guardians of the shinzaho, I presume?" Without waiting for them to respond, he said, "We are the warriors of Suzaku." He gestured to Chiaki. "And she..." Then he stopped, and looked at her.

            Swallowing hard, Chiaki said nervously, "I'm Suzaku no miko..." The words suddenly seemed foreign to her. '_These guys won't buy that pathetic lie..._' She winced inwardly, disliking the fact that she was in a way obligated to make that claim.

            The two guardians stared at her and then the others momentarily before silently conversing amongst themselves. Chiaki watched them, shifting her weight nervously. '_At least that one put the bow and freaky arrows down......... They don't believe me... Hell, _I _wouldn't believe me... Are they going to attack us like they did those Seiryuu jerks? Granted, they deserved it all, but that's beside the-_' Her train of thought was interrupted when the eye-patch spirit turned towards them.

            "We'll give you the shinzaho-"

            Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and the air seemed to calm some. '_Hey, they believed me! Maybe they're dumber than I thought,_' Chiaki thought, somewhat surprised.

            "-_if_ she can pass our test."

            "Test? What sort of test?"

            "What kinda shit is this!"

            "She's not taking any test!"

            "If she doesn't take the test, you don't get the shinzaho and we _will_ kill you!" the pale-haired spirit snapped.

            "Oh yeah, like we killed those others?!" the dark-haired retorted.

            They exchanged glares before looking at Chiaki and the seishi again.

            "What kind of test do I have to take?" Chiaki asked slowly, watching the two spirits. '_I really wish I was back home._'

            "Stand there," the dark-haired spirit commanded, pointing to a spot to her left. She moved. "You seven, stand back. Hesitantly, they stepped back. He turned to her. "You, remove your clothing."

            "_What?!_" She gaped at him.

            "I forbid such-"

            "What the f---!"

            "You can't make her-"

            "Silence!" both spirits yelled.

            And there was silence.

            Again, the dark-haired spirit turned to her. "Now, remove your clothing please."

            Nuriko stepped forward, and voiced his protests loudly. He turned to her. "You don't have to do it, Chiaki-chan. We'd understand if you-"

            "Shut up and get back to your place or I'll kill you now!" Nuriko had only the chance to dance back a step or two before a huge ice sheet knifed into the ground from the cave ceiling, trapping the seishi on once side, and Chiaki on the other.

            She swallowed hard and looked at the two spirits. "The two of you are... evil or something! That could have _killed _him!"

             "You do not even know the meaning of evil, girl." The silver-haired spirit said 'girl' with such contempt that Chiaki would have slapped him... had she been certain her strike would land its place and that icy spear wouldn't land a place in her throat. "Now, if you will please..." He gestured to her. "It is part of the test."

            Chiaki looked down and drew in a shaking breath. This was the only way, she supposed. Reaching for the belt of her jacket with trembling fingers, she glanced at the seishi, who watched her, immobile. She glanced at the spirits, who in turn, regarded her grimly. '_They're going to realize it... I'm not the Priestess of Suzaku. They're going to realize it and then kill everyone; Hotohori-sama, Mitsukake, Chiriko, Nuri-chan..._' She closed her eyes tightly for a moment as her fingers worked the knot. '_And it will be all my fault!_' It fell slack in her hands. Dropping the robe to the ground, she shuddered in the cold. Icy goosebumps raced up her skin like a wet slap. '_I don't think I can do this..._' She dropped the damp slacks she wore, standing in her undergarments, and hugged her arms to her chest, blushing scarlet. "Can I... Can I keep my shoes on?" she asked through chattering teeth.

            The two spirits exchanged a series of glances before looking at her and nodding. Raising his hand, the dark-haired spirit unleashed a cold blast of wind that froze her exposed skin and she heard the crackling of ice, noticing what seemed to be too late, as ice crystals gathered around her feet, solidified, and slowly made their way up and around her body.

            '_I'm going to die!_' she thought as the ice crept up and over her face.

* * * * * * * * * *

Well, look here! I'm saying something! Not often I do that... ^_^ But I'd like to thank Kaze-sama (most of you may know her has Kaze-chan!) for helping me write this chapter! And putting up with my "Write this for me please!"s! And I want to thank all of you reviewers! Especially Otaku Pitcher who has reviewed almost, if not every chapter! *stares in shock* Thank you! *happy dance* Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter.... it took long enough for me to get it out, eh?  Hopefully Chapter 9 will come out quicker!  
  


**Chiaki:** Don't get your hopes up

*bashes Chiaki and hides the unconscious body from Nuriko* Ja ne!


	9. 

_AN: I am so TERRIBLY sorry about the long wait! I had a horrible case of writer's block and the last part of this chapter didn't want to be written! I'd like to thank all of my diligent reviewers, and my friend Kaze-chan (look, I said it rigth! Nyah...) for helping me with ideas! *glomps* Thank you!_

**Chapter 9:**

            '_I'm going to die! _I _am going to die!_' Those thoughts rolled over and over in Chiaki's mind as her skin seemed to burn under the icy touch before her body succumbed to numbness and her lungs burned for lack of air. '_I want to go home! I wish I never came here. I just want to be home, in bed, with hot chocolate and my stuffed penguin!_' Her head throbbed mercilessly and black veils danced in the corners of her eyes, promising far more comfort than she was experiencing now. Her chest felt about ready to explode. The pain was unbearable. '_Just _kill_ me already, for God's sake! Let me die and get this over with _now_!_' she yelled internally.

            A searing red image filled her mind; a collection of mental senses- painful and disturbing, but useful in distracting her from her current situation. "_You won't die, child_." The voice that filled her head, pressing painfully against her skull was hot and deep, booming but melodious in its own odd right. "_I still have plans for you, child. You will not die_."

            '_Then get me out of here dammit! Because I will if you don't!_'

            '_SILENCE, FOOL!_' The booming voice exploded into her conscious thought like a bomb going off inside her head, releasing pressure beyond her comprehension.

            She screamed in pain and the ice around her exploded into a million sharp shards, spreading out like a starburst. Chiaki collapsed to her knees, the last of her scream fading away. She trembled, gulping in heaving breaths of air. Looking up at the two spirits, she waited weakly for her sentencing. '_Hopefully, it's a nice _hot_ death,_' she thought grimly.

            The two spirits exchanged glances. "You have passed the test," the silver-haired spirit informed her. He sounded like he couldn't believe it.

            Chiaki definitely couldn't. Behind her, the icy wall that kept the seven seishi in their place vanished and they rushed to her side. Nuriko gathered her icy body into his arms and quickly covered her up with her robe. "Are you alright, Chiaki-chan? You're freezing!"

            "I'm fine, Nuriko," she managed to reply through blue, chattering lips.

            Tasuki patted her exposed arm. "That was some real amazin' shit ya pu.... _Damn_, ya really _are_ that cold!" He looked up at the observing spirits. "What th' hell wuzzat?!" he yelled, swinging his tessen around wildly. "Ya could've killed her!"

            "If she was really who she claimed she was-" the dark-haired spirit began.

            "So you do this to everyone?" Nuriko demanded. "You just... kill every trespassing girl until you find one worthy of your stupid relic?!"

            "_WHAT KINDA SHIT IS THAT?!_"

            The silver-haired spirit glared at Tasuki. "Well, you'll be _pleased_ to know-"

            "I'll be pleased t' kick yer _ass_!" he snapped back.

            "Tasuki..." Chiaki began, reaching towards him, but Nuriko held her back gently.

            "Shut it, I'm tryin' t' argue here!" Tasuki turned back to the spirits. "If ya think I'm gonna stand around-"

            "If you'll just shut-"

            "-an' let ya do that to Chiaki-"

            "-up and _listen-_"

            "-then you got another thing-"

            "_Shut your damn mouth already!_" the dark-haired spirit roared.

            Promptly, Tasuki fell into a very stunned silence. Chiaki breathed a sigh of relief. His voice was beginning to give her a headache.

            The silver-haired spirit nodded to his companion appreciatively. "Because your _priestess_ has passed our test, we will now grant you the shinzaho."

            The seven seishi were silent for a moment before they broke out into cheers for themselves and congratulations to the girl they owed it to. But she heard none of it. She gave them a numb smile and passed out just moments later.

* * *

            "I believe....... priestess..... can't understand......... Suzaku..........."

            "But Taiitsukun............ Miaka must still be.................. besides, she doesn't want............"

            "Genbu........... not possible if Chiaki wasn't.............. must be............. no other way."

            Chiaki stirred and after a moment opened her eyes, bringing her arm up to her face to shield out the bright moonlight. Around a table and a lighted candle sat Chichiri, Mitsukake, and Hotohori. She watched them through sleepy eyes. Their voices seemed quieter now that she was fully awake. '_Eugh... I feel like I've been hit by a truck. And my back is_ killing_ me!_' She shifted onto her side. The movement caused the bed to squeak and the noise drew the attention of the three men in the room.

            "You're awake!" Mitsukaka exclaimed, the first to rise. The other two followed and came to stand near her bedside.

            "How are you feeling, Chiaki?" Hotohori inquired.

            '_Man, Nuri-chan's right. He _is_ kind of hot,_' she thought before blushing some. "Eh, I'm okay. I just feel like I've been hit by a truck. A big one. An eighteen-wheeler." The three men stared at her blankly. Right. They had no clue what an eighteen-wheeler was. Quickly she shook her head. "I'm alright." She placed a hand onto her forehead. "What happened though?"

            "You passed out, no da," Chichiri replied. "It is likely the cold just shocked you, no da."

            "That and a multitude of other things." Mitsukake patted her head. "Are you sure you're fine? You slept for three days."

            "Three days!" Rubbing her temple, Chiaki glanced around. "Where's Nuri-chan?" She had figured that he would have already smothered her in a choking hug, exclaiming 'You're awake!' rather cheerfully by that time.

            "He, Tamahome, and Tasuki went out for drinks, no da."

            "Oh great. My best friend is out getting totally wasted when I'm unconscious. How's that for friendly service?"

            The three of them looked at her, managing to understand what she said even though she had used the unfamiliar "wasted" term.

            "You could always bring him back, no da," Chichiri suggested.

            "Yes... the last thing we need are intoxicated seishi..." Hotohori muttered.

            "Why me? A bar isn't good for a girl... and... and poor Nuriko is going to be mistaken for one amongst all those drunken men! You should be _ashamed_ of yourselves!"

            They looked at one another and then at her. "Nuriko is capable of fending for himself," Hotohori assured her.

            "Oh yeah? Oh yeah? Well..." She couldn't think of a good argument because what he had said was, quite frankly, true. But still... She huffed in annoyance, blowing her messy hair out of her eyes.

            "I believe you will be fine going to get them, no da," Chichiri finally said. "You certainly have the attitude to take care of yourself, no da."

She glared at him. "What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Daaa...." He muttered something incoherent to her ears and she was swallowed up in a familiar, dizzying blackness.

            "_Damn you Chichiriii!_" Chiaki screamed as she fell into a dim lit, noisy room, on top of a drunkard she didn't know... and didn't care to. "Get off of me!" she yelled, slightly disoriented, and pushed the startled man away, ignoring the fact that _he_ wasn't on _her_.

            Adjusting her disheveled clothing, she snorted, thinking of what rotten things she could do to Chichiri when she returned and stalked away from the drunkard, who had already forgotten about her. Stopping in the center of the room, she glanced around, hoping she was in the tavern that Nuriko, Tasuki, and Tamahome were in. Now to find those three familiar heads... She scanned the sea of heads and sighed. '_What is this, Everybody-get-drunk Day?_' In her opinion, it was quite possible that every man, woman, and- "What the _hell?!_ Is that a child?!"- was at this tavern, getting drunk off their rockers, and intentionally making difficult for her to spot her comrades- or prey, as she was thinking of them at that very moment-

            _Grab!_ "Hey, sweetcheeks, why don'cha come give me some lovin'?"

            Chiaki turned to see a dirty fat man with missing teeth grinning sloppily at her. His chin was wet with saliva he couldn't swallow because he was so drunk. '_Just great- pervs in Ancient China! How did he know that was _exactly_ what I needed!_' "Sir... Kindly remove your hand from where you put it.... or _I'll shove that glass so far down your throat you'll be drinking through a straw out of your ass!_"

            "Ooh, feisty, I like that..."

            "Fat Man, you are _so_ gonna pay!"

            It was his luck and hers that another dirty man- a scrawny one- stumbled past and barfed on the fat one's table. With the unpleasant, foul-smelling distraction, she stalked away from that table before Fat Man could get himself into more trouble.

            "Tamahome, and Tasuki, and Nuriko, where are you? If I find you, you all will die... and oh, what painful deaths they shall be..." she muttered through gritted teeth as an unseen hand reached out and slapped her rear end. "Touch me again and I'll break your arm!" she screamed to anyone who would listen. Stalking away from wandering hands, she muttered under her breath, "I swear... they are going to die. I will kill them... Tasuki!" Spying a familiar shock of flaming red hair, she stalked over to the head bobbing through the crowd and promptly whacked him hard over the head.

            "_Yeow!_" The man crouched a bit and whirled. "Okay, who th' _HELL_ is lookin' for a fight-"

            "Whoops.... wrong guy.... sorry," she squawked. She ran off when he made an angry grab at her. She collided with someone seated at the bar. Flailing backwards, she smacked someone else in the face. "Sorry," she muttered to the guy she hit in the face before realizing the one she ran into at the bar was Tasuki- really. "Tasuki!" she yelped. Grabbing a fistful of his hair, she pulled his head back. "I have been looking everywhere for you!"

            "_YEEEEOOOOWWW_! Watch what ya pull, ya damn broad!" he bellowed.

            "Oh... right." She released the fistful of hair she had. "Where's Tamahome? And Nuri-chan?"

            "Tamahome is plastered off 'is ass-" he pointed to the man dancing erotically on someone's table top, "from somethin' Nuriko made up, and Nuriko's over there." She glanced back and saw him sulking over a glass in the corner of the room. Very unlike Nuri-chan.

            Elbowing her way through the crowd, she approached him and sat down on the empty stool next to him. "Nuriko?" she asked, poking his shoulder gently.

            With a startled yelp, he flopped across the table. Then, he slowly pushed himself upright and gave her a slightly cross-eyed stare. "... Oh... um... Hello."

            He said it in such a dejected manner that Chiaki felt cause to be concerned. "What's wrong?" she asked, pulling up a stool beside him, ignoring the vulgar songs that it sounded like Tamahome was now singing.

            "Nothing, nothing."

            It wasn't actually a _nothing_ sort of nothing, but she didn't know how to respond to it and figured that if he wished to tell her, he would do so on his own terms... And possibly without a deep saturation in alcohol... "All right then, if you say so-"

            "It's just...I've been thinking a lot lately..." he went on.

            "About what?"

            "About this... Do you think I'm worthy enough to be a seishi?" He was staring at the mug before him, tapping it absently with his fingertips.

            "I... Of course you are, Nuriko. I don't think that Suzaku would have picked you if he didn't think so..."

            "You really think he'd like a seishi who was a man dressing like a woman?" he asked crossly.

            "Well..." Chiaki chewed her lip. He was obviously going through some tough thoughts- she supposed alcohol did that to a person- and she was hesitant to reply. After all, she didn't want to complicate matters. She had never pictured him with a low self-esteem before... "I'm sure you... have your reasons. Everyone has their quirks- that's what makes them... who they are."

            "Do you think I'm pretty?"

            Chiaki choked on her own breath. "P-p-_pardon_?!" This was... sudden. She coughed to clear her throat.

            "Am I... pretty? Do you think I am?" He gave a little flick of his wrist, pushed his violet hair out of his eyes, and turned to her, watching her morosely. "There has to be something... something acceptable about me..."

            "Nuriko, you have plenty of fine qualities. You- you... I mean... You're friendly um.... and you have a good sense of humor and... um-"

            "But am I pretty?" he asked desperately.

            So he was vying for that acceptance? She assumed. "Well... um... I wouldn't use the word pretty..." '_Pretty damn handsome is more like it-_' "What the hell?!"

            Nuriko gave her a startled look. "What?"

            She turned scarlet. "Nothing.... Of course, Nuriko. You're quite ... er... pretty." 

            "Will that be enough for Suzaku?" He turned fully to face her. "Am... am I worth it?"

            Chiaki shifted her weight uncomfortably. She was starting to feel afraid of this deeper side of Nuriko. '_It's the alcohol... it has to be..._' "Well.... Yes, of course you are!"

            "You honestly think so?" He still looked a bit uncertain.

            "Y-yes!" '_Would you STOP looking at me like that?!_'

            For a moment he chewed his lip. Then he glanced up at her through the fringe of his bangs. "Then... then prove it..."

            '_What the hell...?_' "Um... E-excu-" But she wasn't able to finish her reply, because Nuriko, quite suddenly, tilted her chin up and kissed her.


	10. 

**That Was Her, This is Me**

**Chapter 10:**

Chiaki's mind blanked out. She had no idea how to respond as she stood motionless in Nuriko's grasp. His lips seemed awkward on hers. Maybe it was the alcohol he had consumed... She was frozen. So many people, the noise, the noise! And all the eyes- The sensation of his bangs brushing against the bridge of her nose startled some sense into her and she jerked backwards. "Nur... Nuriko...." Blushing scarlet, she grabbed his arm. "Come on, you've had too much to drink. You're starting to do silly things- let's get you and the others back to the inn." He stumbled silently after her as she rounded up Tasuki, who was getting into a heated argument with a hulking man twice his size in height and weight, and Tamahome, who still writhed on the table, though he was far from standing in his drunken state, singing utter nonsense.

Ignoring their sloppy inquiries, she dragged them back to the inn- which was an aggravating ordeal all on it's own. Tamahome even urinated right in the street. Chiaki groaned, pushing and shoving until they entered the rooms they had booked at the inn. Chichiri, Mitsukake, and the emperor were still awake. Chiriko was asleep, half snoring, on a bed across the room.

"What in Suzaku's name happened?" Hotohori demanded, looking appalled that their drunken state.

Chiaki shook her head, pushing them into a bed apiece. "They just got drunk… Perhaps too drunk," she said with a grimace as Tamahome vomited over the edge of his bed, right at her feet. She sidestepped it, grimacing. Tasuki was groaning pitifully about how the room wouldn't stop spinning and Nuriko had his back to everyone, again unnaturally silent.

Hotohori frowned deeply. "We don't have time to waste lolling about… We must return to Konan at once. But if they're inebriated-"

"I have a remedy for such occasions, your highness," Mitsukake said. "You have nothing to worry about."

Chiaki looked doubtful as Tamahome vomited again. '_Nothing_', she thought, '_will cure _his_ hangover tomorrow._'

''''

"Get up, get up, we have to leave."

Chiaki groaned when she awoke to a sharp jabbing feeling and opened an eye. Nuriko stood over her, jabbing her shoulder. "What is it?"

"We. Have. To. Leave."

She glanced at a nearby window. "Ugh… it's not even dawn yet…" she groaned. Then she gave a startled yelp when he grabbed her arm and hauled her straight from the bed onto the cold floor. "Ouch, dammit!" she shouted, effectively waking the remaining sleepers.

Nuriko glanced around. "Well, that saved a lot of time."

Wincing, Chiaki pushed herself to her feet, shoving her messy hair from her eyes and trying to get oriented in the dark. "Cripes Nuriko… how can you even stand? You were utterly smashed last night."

He shrugged. "What can I say? I hold my alcohol well."

She looked up and nearly knocked foreheads with him. She blushed crimson at his nearness, her mind forcing her to recall his unexpected kiss the night before. With a nervous noise in the back of her throat, she stumbled sideways and hastened to pack up her few belongings. He quirked a brow curiously.

"Are you all right, Chiaki-chan?"

"What? Oh I- er- I ... um... yeah! Yes, I'm fine," she said quickly. Belatedly, she forced up a smile.

Nuriko gave her a doubtful look but, before he could say anything, Tamahome assaulted him. Ignoring the death threats for giving him such an awfully strong drink the previous night, Nuriko answered with a shrug, shoving Tamahome aside- and straight through the wall, into the next room- and "What can I say? Some men just can't hold their liquor."

Hotohori sighed, exasperation evident on his face. It seemed that only he, Mitsukake, and Chichiri were ready to leave. "If you please, we must make haste to the palace. We are in danger while we remain in Hokkan."

"The Seiryuu seishi could still be around, no da," Chichiri added.

That last warning set the packing into motion. Within minutes, everyone was awake (sort of) and ready to go, as they were all eager to avoid another confrontation with the enemy. In a sleepy mob, they piled out of the inn and made way for the stable.

"Here." Chichiri held out the shinzaho. "You should wear it, no da. Suzaku should infuse it with your chi to keep it safe."

Chiaki nodded and took the necklace, slipping it carefully over her head and tucking it beneath her coat.

"Are you going to ride with me, Chiaki-chan?" Nuriko asked, trudging in the snow next to her.

Chiaki opened her mouth to say no, she should probably ride with Chichiri, when a sudden force knocked her off her feet and sent her flying into a mountain of snow. Her head cleared a moment or so later to hear the sounds of confusion and growling and to the sight of a huge, hulking beast pinning her to the ground. Her breath caught. It was the same beast-man that had attacked Nuriko back at the mountain! She couldn't make a sound- his weight made drawing any other breath unbearable. Again, she prayed to whoever saved her from the ice the spirits sent her on Mt. Black to please, spare her life again. The beast raised his paw to strike and she cringed, but Nuriko shoved him off just as he struck.

Chiaki sat up, gagging and coughing as she drew in ragged breaths and looked over to see Nuriko, yet again, facing off with the beast-man. Or, Nuriko seemed to be, anyway. The other didn't seem to care about battle in the least at the moment. And moments later, Chiaki understood why. In his paws dangled the shinzaho. She gasped, grasping her neck, as if to affirm what she saw. Her coat was torn in the exact spot the shinzaho had hung moments before.

With a whirl, the beast dashed off.

"No!" Chiaki shrieked, stumbling through the snow after him. "Give it back!"

An arm seized her round her ribcage and hefted her high in the air. She shrieked loudly.

"Ah, quiet down!" said Nuriko's familiar voice. "We're going after it." He settled her sidesaddle on his horse and, with the other seishi, galloped off after the wolf-man's footprints.

Chiaki bit the inside of her lip and tried not to concentrate on the closeness of his body.

"I said quiet down, but I didn't mean to go silent!"

She looked up at Nuriko in surprise and he grinned back. "Er.. yes.. sorry…"

Nuriko arched a slim brow. "Well, you're acting awfully strange. What's the matter?"

"Oh! Um…" Her face burned scarlet and she looked ahead so he wouldn't notice. "Yes… well… I just feel bad that… I lost the shinzaho like that…" Which was true… she did feel terrible about it.

"If you say so."

"I don't understand…" Chichiri was saying a bit beside them.

"What is that, Chichiri?" Hotohori asked.

The monk shook his head a bit. "If she was wearing the shinzaho, no da, Suzaku should have provided it with divine protec-"

There was a sudden apparition on the road before them and the horses screamed in fright, nearly throwing their riders. Moments later, Tamahome screamed in fright too- "A _monster!_" he bellowed.

"NONSENSE!" the 'monster' barked. "How could you call _me_ a monster!?"

"Taitsukun!" the other seishi exclaimed.

"Exactly. Tamahome, stop cowering this instant!" Taitskun bellowed. Then she turned to the others. "So, I see you have lost the shinzaho," she said gravely.

"We didn't lose it- it was stolen from us!" Chiaki protested.

"Then there isn't time to waste."

"What do you mean?"

"There is a second shinzaho."

"A second one?!"

"Yes. Both shinzahos are needed to summon Suzaku. If you move now, you can get to it before those of Seiryuu do. If you are in strong possession of it, you will be at a draw- for they too would need the second shinzaho. You can worry about regaining the first one later."

Chiriko urged his horse forward. "I have an idea. We could split up. One group can retrieve the stolen shinzaho, and the other will locate the new one."

"Yes, that would make the most use out of our resources." Hotohori agreed.

Taitskun nodded solemnly. "That would be wise."

"But how are we going to split up?" Chiaki wondered aloud.

"Here's my suggestion. As this girl is endowed with the force of Suzaku, have her go to retrieve the stolen shinzaho. Suzaku should protect her if the enemy tries to retaliate. Chichiri can travel with her. The rest of you, continue onward. It could take you a bit of time to locate the shinzaho and you might encounter resistance from your enemy. This will give Chichiri and Chiaki time to get to you so she can obtain the second shinzaho."

The seishi nodded solemnly. All except Nuriko, who was grinning devilishly. "Good idea, but I go wherever Chiaki-chan goes." He pulled her close under one arm. "After all, she has a penchant for attracting trouble."

Chiaki blushed and looked away.

Taitskun rolled her eyes. "Fine. But this is my proposal. Whether you choose to follow it, I leave to you." And she disappeared.

Hotohori stepped forward into the spot where Taitskun had been hovering. "I believe that Taitskun's idea was best so we should follow through."

"I agree with his majesty, no da. You shouldn't encounter too much trouble from the Seiryuu seishi as I don't believe they have made off for the second shinzaho, no da," Chichiri added.

"Then let's go," Nuriko said, slightly impatient. "The longer we wait, the more likely they'll get away!" He extended a hand to Chiaki.

"Er… I think I'll um, ride with Chichiri." She scooted away from him, trying to ignore Nuriko's puzzled look as Chichiri pulled her into the saddle.

"Hyah!" shouted Hotohori and the two groups separated, riding off in separate directions.

"Chiaki-chan," Nuriko began.

"Where do you think we're supposed to find those Seiryuu guys?" she said quickly, staring straight ahead.

"It shouldn't be hard, no da. The wolf left a mess of footprints and broken snow in his wake, no da." Chichiri pointed along their trail.

Chiaki looked over the side of the horse and her eyes followed the snow towards the horizon. "Okay… Do you think we might even catch him on the trail?"

The monk shook his head. "I doubt it, no da. Wolves are fast runners and he got a fair head start on us, no da."

She frowned in disappointment. She really hadn't wanted an encounter with Nakago and the deadly company he kept. Perhaps there was a way to avoid a fight? "Could we sneak in during the middle of the night to get it?"

"It's possible, no da, but probably more dangerous. I doubt Nakago would leave the camp unprotected, no da. His chi will likely be infused in all his surroundings, no da. The quicker we get there, no da, the less likely he'll have all the surrounding land under his influence and therefore rise up against us, no da."

"Oh…"

"Besides, they had the guts to steal it straight from our hands," Nuriko said with a grin. "It's only fitting that we do the same."

Chiaki flushed and looked away. Apart from the embarrassment of the drunken kiss, she also now recalled the fact that the shinzaho had been snatched straight from _her_ hands. Then she gritted her teeth. She couldn't blame herself. What happened, happened. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's kick Seiryuu ass!"

They arrived at the enemy's campsite well before Chiaki had expected. Only one tent loomed in the near distance. She bit her lip. Something was wrong. One tent? Surely, they would need more than one tent. She almost voiced her concerns, but they were already moving forward. She shook her head. No. They needed the shinzaho no matter what! She told herself this over and over.

"We'll leave the horses here, no da," Chichiri said and they dismounted.

Nuriko started out first, motioning for the others to follow him. Quietly, they crept towards the tent. Chiaki gripped Chichiri's sleeve tightly, nervously. They'd be okay… right? Right?

It was seconds before they reached the tent. There was the sound of movement from within and out stepped Nakago. Chiaki gasped. A faint smirk crossed his lips.

"Why hello, what a pleasant surprise," he said dryly.

Suddenly, Chichiri and Nuriko froze.

"What's wrong?" Chiaki said anxiously.

"Our powers… just like last time…" Nuriko said quietly.

Nakago smirked again. "Yes. You are powerless." Burning white chi sparkled in his palm. "Fight back if you dare."


End file.
